Transportation

Construction Prevents Return Of LK Taraval-Ingleside, M Ocean View Light Rail Service

Construction projects on Taraval Street and in the Twin Peaks Tunnel prevent LK Taraval-Ingleside and M Ocean View light rail service from being restored until the spring.

Alex Mullaney Dec 30, 2020

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J Church light rail service returned to the neighborhood on Dec. 19, taking passengers between Balboa Park Station and Church and Duboce streets. But it will be many months until LK Taraval-Ingleside and M Ocean View return.

The pandemic put a halt to all light rail service in March. In August, service resumed for three days until faulty overhead wires were discovered in the subway halting stopping all service again.

The LK and M lines will “remain as bus routes through the spring as subway repairs continue, particularly in the Eureka Curve near Castro Station,” according to a Dec. 7 post on the The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency website.

Due to the “L Taraval Improvement Project continuing construction, we will wait to bring back the LK Ingleside-Taraval light rail line. For now, L Taraval Bus and K Ingleside will continue to go directly to downtown,” according to a Dec. 8 post on the SFMTA website.

In a bid to reduce delays, increase train frequencies and decrease congestion, the SFMTA reconfigured light rail service.

The K was separated from the T Third Street and combined with L to create the KL. The M was then combined with the T to form the TM.

Interlining the K with the L reduces impact on the subway by reducing the total number of trains. However, LK passengers will have to transfer at West Portal Station to go inbound toward downtown.

T light rail service between Sunnydale and Embarcadero stations is scheduled to return Jan. 23. The N Judah and S Shuttle between Embarcadero and West Portal may resume in early March.