San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has been awarded a $130 million state grant to modernize the city’s Muni’s train control system and make the Muni metro more efficient and reliable.
The grant was awarded from the State of California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), which provides Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants to modernize urban rail systems like San Francisco’s Muni Metro.
The city said the train control upgrade project will install a modern, state-of-the-art Communications-Based Train Control system throughout the Muni Metro network citywide in multiple phases starting with on-street rail between Embarcadero and Mission Bay, followed by the subways, and finally the remaining on-street rail segments in the south and west sides of the city. Currently, the city relies on an outdated, 30-year-old automatic train control system.
“Replacing the SFMTA’s antiquated train control system is a critical project that is long past due. Learning from many lessons of the past, the agency has an unparalleled opportunity here to remedy a good number of longstanding rider concerns, ensuring that the backbone of San Francisco’s essential public transit system can more smoothly function for years to come,” said Aaron Leifer, Chair of the SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council.
This latest round of funding builds on a previous grant from TIRCP. The previous funding is being used to install the new train control system along on-street rail between Embarcadero and Mission Bay in the city.
“To prevent an extended subway shutdown, it’s critical to replace Muni Metro’s deeply outdated train control system,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin. “In the process, we have a unique opportunity to upgrade the system to the latest technology and extend it beyond the subways to all the on-street Muni Metro corridors citywide. TIRCP funds will go a long way to helping us complete this safety and operations-critical investment.”
The project is currently on track to launch in 2025 and expects to complete Phase 1 by 2028. Phase 2 will start in late 2026 and is expected to be completed in early 2030. The remaining phases will finish in 2032.
