SF Muni’s new light-rail cars are different — and riders like them

Lucas Smith and Doug Lee talk near one of the new Muni Metro light rail cars on Monday, March 12, 2018 in San Francisco, CA Lucas Smith and Doug Lee talk near one of the new Muni Metro light rail cars on Monday, March 12, 2018 in San Francisco, CA Photo: Paul Kuroda, Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Kuroda, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close SF Muni’s new light-rail cars are different — and riders like them 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

Dee Andrews climbed aboard the J-Church Muni Metro this week, glanced around and voiced words rarely spoken about San Francisco’s public transportation system: “It’s beautiful.”

Andrews, 65, a longtime city resident, had just boarded one of Muni’s new light-rail cars for its inaugural run on the J-Church line.

The car Andrews rode in is among five that have been put into service so far. By the end of the month, said John Haley, the Municipal Transportation Agency’s transit director, “We intend to start putting one new car each week into service.”

Gray and white with a wide red stripe wrapped around them like a ribbon, the new cars offer a different look for Muni. The third-generation Muni Metro car isn’t fancy, but it’s got a modern look and feel, with automated video screens announcing the next stop, loudspeakers you can hear and bright red and blue seating (blue for passengers with disabilities and seniors) along the interior sides.

The first of the five new cars in service was rolled out in November. Three more are finishing a break-in period that involves running each one for 1,000 hours to reveal any problems before carrying passengers. Nine additional cars have been received and are waiting to be inspected and broken in.

The new cars, built by German manufacturer Siemens in Sacramento, are part of a Muni renaissance, at least in terms of vehicles. The Municipal Transportation Agency is in the midst of replacing all of its buses and railcars, except, of course, for the cable cars and historic streetcars.

And while passengers like the look, feel and features of the new Metro cars, Muni is counting on them to be considerably less trouble than the cars that are being replaced.

The current light-rail cars, manufactured by the Italian company Breda, have been plagued with problems from their introduction to city streets in the mid-1990s. Most notably, doors sometimes fail to close or stay closed and steps don’t lower or raise when they’re supposed to. Problems with ventilation and propulsion systems have also vexed Muni.

“Replacing the Muni fleet can have a significant impact on Muni reliability,” said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the agency. “Each new vehicle is another step in that direction.”

Muni plans to replace its current Metro fleet of 149 cars and expand it to 264 by 2027. The additional cars will be needed, in part, for the Central Subway and to meet service demands resulting from the Golden State Warriors’ new Chase Arena, both scheduled to open in 2019. The cost of the new cars is about $1.2 billion.

MTA officials are in talks with the Federal Transit Administration and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to speed up the replacement of the Breda cars, which could each require $300,000 in maintenance and overhaul work to keep them running until they’re swapped out.

“Hopefully, that would mean everything would be in place by 2025, two years early,” Rose said.

So far, Muni has just run the new cars as single-car trains, but it’s been testing trains with two cars and even three cars — something the Breda cars can’t do. If the state Public Utilities Commission approves, two- and three-car trains could be picking up passengers by late spring, Haley said.

As the new car that would eventually pick up Andrews made its maiden voyage from the Muni Metro East yard down Third Street, along the Embarcadero, into the Market Street Subway and onto the streets of the J line, riders reacted enthusiastically. Even some of the most jaded Muni riders cracked smiles.

Jim Wilson, a 36-year-old product manager who lives in the Dogpatch, had seen many of the new cars roll past during testing. But this was his first chance to ride on one. He and his 5-month-old daughter, Gabrielle, in a stroller, both were wide-eyed.

“I ride Muni every day to work,” Wilson said. “It’s always nice to board something new. It’s nice and clean, there’s a lot more room, and it’s quieter.”

Manny Enriquez, Muni’s test and acceptance supervisor, said a lot of residents along the Metro line have said the Siemens cars don’t cause their buildings to rattle and shake as they pass, unlike the Bredas, which are thousands of pounds heavier.

Andrea Beithon, 29, who lives along the N line, said life will be more pleasant with the new cars. “When it goes by, it’s so much quieter,” she said.

She said the new cars offered an improvement inside as well. She said she liked the look of the cars, the screens and the audible announcements.

“It’s nice to see the city making progress and getting new things out there,” Beithon said.

Riders also said they liked the larger windows and the roomier feel of the car, which has fewer seats but more standing space.

Muni chose the new seating configuration over rows of seats facing forward and back — like the Bredas’ — after rider surveys.

“More people chose the longitudinal seating than the traditional seating,” Rose said.

Aboard the J car, some disagreed. They didn’t like the feel of the bench seats, which lack individual spaces, saying they felt slippery and were too high above the floor.

“It’s not very comfortable,” said Amber Cox, 36, a graphic designer who lives in Noe Valley. “Especially if you’re under 5-2.”

She also said the spacious center of the train didn’t have enough grab bars or straps for people to hold onto. That’s something Muni can fix, Haley said.

Even with those shortcomings, Cox said, she was excited to see the new cars.

“It looks like a Japanese train, really modern,” she said. “It feels like San Francisco is catching up, which is cool.”

Andrews, who teaches history at Cal State East Bay, said she hopes the new cars are a sign that Muni is on the rise.

“I think Muni’s doing very, very well these days,” she said. “Much better than it had been.”