Mayor Breed, Supervisor Melgar Announce May 15 Return Date for K Ingleside Light Rail Service

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Citing the need for public transit to drive the city out of the pandemic-caused rut, Mayor London Breed and District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar announced that the K Ingleside light rail service will return on May 15, many months sooner than the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency anticipated.

“We are ecstatic to see the K light rail service coming back in May,” Melgar said in a statement. “We are reopening, our folks are getting vaccinated, our merchants are seeing an uptick in foot traffic and connecting businesses to their customers is critical to economic recovery and vitality.”

The K will be interlined once again with the T Third, running from Balboa Park to Sunnydale. For a spell in 2020, it had been interlined with the L Taraval. Much of the L-line is under construction but slated to be completed this year.

“I’m looking forward to better and more reliable transit service with the return of the K-line,” District SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Council representative Neil Ballard said. “It’s going to benefit a lot of people who require public transit to get around and frequent businesses in the neighborhood.”

The return of K Ingleside rail service will coincide with the return of the N Judah.

“The K light rail is crucial for District 7; not just our businesses but also our institutions, such as our SFUSD schools and City College,” Melgar said. “We need reliable and accessible transit service and to ensure our recovery and success after a year of COVID-19. I look forward to continued advocacy for my district.”

K-line passengers will benefit from infrastructure upgrades made during the subway shutdown, including Wi-Fi and quicker, smoother trips brought by maintenance work done on overhead lines and rails.

“The return of the K is an important step forward in bringing back the type of Muni service that San Francisco needs as we emerge from this pandemic,” Breed said in a statement. “This last year forced us to change so much about how our city operates, and one of the hardest parts was the impact it had on our public transit. But while trains and buses weren’t able to run at normal levels, the SFMTA used that time to make important upgrades and repairs to our infrastructure and prepare for the future. Now I’m excited to see more and more people riding Muni to get around San Francisco.”