MUNI Adds New Streetcar Line: E For “Excrement”

Oops, I mean “excitement!”

The Long Commute
The Long Commute by Telstar Logistics. Used with permission.

Via SFRTU and MUNI Diaries, the Golden Gate Xpress [sic] reports:

Old trains and tracks will be brought back into action for a new E line that will run from Caltrain to Fisherman’s Wharf, according to SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose.

But they also say:

The historic line to be resurrected will also travel along the waterfront south of the Ferry Building near Pier 70.

Wait a minute. Pier… 70? On the heels of a recent AP story claiming that Pier 70 will be redeveloped any minute now (a story that is annoyingly clogging up my twitter search results for Dogpatch):

The city plans to redevelop Pier 70, hoping to capitalize on its historic charms while providing badly needed jobs, commercial and residential space – all while maintaining the neighborhood essence that dates back to the mid-1800s when the Union Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel, Pacific Rolling Mills and the Spreckels Sugar refinery dominated the waterfront.

and a tweet from Mayor Ed Lee about a recent tour of Pier 80 in preparation for the America’s Cup, and I’m thinking that they are maybe going to run the historic trolley all the way into Dogpatch, which means that it will have to share the line (and potentially ridership) with the T line. If so, this will prove extremely convenient when I am entertaining visitors who can’t be talked out of visiting Fisherman’s Wharf. (actually, the Musee Mechanique, USS Pampanito, and SS Jeremiah O’Brien are all worth seeing, and after seeing the O’Brien, you can go home, watch Titanic, say “I was in that boiler room,” and then, you know, turn it off — oh, actually, the O’Brien is in drydock at Pier 70 right now! Welcome to the Dogpatch!)

Maybe this was a mis-reading or mis-reporting — it would be a lot easier if there was a simultaneous press release on the SFMTA’s transit web site — where the “Projects & Planning” link gives a 403 error, and in fact, almost all of the links under “Explore Transit” are broken. Transparency!

2 Comments

  1. roymeo wrote:

    I have heard the tracks down Illinois have been left there for the historic line use…

    Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm | Permalink
  2. Jesse Mullan wrote:

    Hmm. As far as I can tell from Google street view, the tracks on Illinois extend from Terry A. Francois Street to 25th, but don’t connect to anything and don’t have overhead power.

    Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 3:01 pm | Permalink

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