Update: At 9:20 a.m. on Sunday, SFMTA announced its downtown subway service had resumed.
The Muni Metro subway tunnel under Market Street is shut down for the rest of the night after a car drove into the tunnel at the Embarcadero on Saturday afternoon, disrupting train service and confusing hundreds of commuters.
There will be no trains at Van Ness, Civic Center, Powell, Montgomery or Embarcadero stations until service resumes, likely tomorrow morning.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s backup options are:
- K-Ingleside, L-Taraval and M-Oceanview trains heading downtown turn around at Church Station instead of continuing into the Market Street subway
- N-Judah trains heading downtown turn around before entering the subway
- Bus shuttles run in both directions between Market and Castro streets, and the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets
- BART will continue running trains between the Embarcadero and Balboa Park
The slowdown began in the late afternoon. SFMTA posted an alert at 3:46 p.m. that a car had “entered the trackway” at the Embarcadero.
“Market St. subway service between Van Ness and Embarcadero will remain down for the remainder of the night for trackway inspection & repairs,” the agency wrote.
The mishap surprised passengers and SFMTA workers alike.
On Saturday afternoon, hordes of commuters confusedly filed out of the N-Judah going towards Caltrain, after it unexpectedly stopped at Church and Duboce streets.
The driver shouted at the passengers to get out of the train, directing most to an alternative shuttle.
“I don’t know what’s going on, either,” the driver said, when asked by a frustrated passenger why the line had stopped. “Apparently someone drove in — guess they weren’t paying attention.”
Some who had not yet heard the news waited by the stop, hoping to catch the next bus.
Any info on why this shut down the underground for the entire late afternoon and evening – for something that is foreseeable?
Did the car drive far enough into the tunnel that trains couldn’t be turned around at Embarcadero? Is the system so fragile that (possible) damage to equipment at one end of the underground shuts the entire train system down?
Go to Muni Alerts. There’s mobile coverage in the subway now.
Later in the night, train control let the spacing of the KLM trains out in the Aves get out of whack. Aforementioned mobile coverage was seen being used by stranded travelers to download the Waymo app. SFMTA and the union need to wake up, and switch lines to KLMN sequence at the downtown turnaround, be it regularly at Embarcadero station, or in situations like this.
I was at Powell at 5:30. The station was closed, with two workers who told us to take the F to Church. There was no F on Next bus slated for the next 20 minutes, and no shuttle buses.