Central Subway

For nine years the construction of Muni’s 1.7-mile Central Subway has disrupted the core of San Francisco by closing streets, rerouting traffic and buses, and pushing customers away from merchants. But the end is nigh.

The new Muni Metro line is scheduled to open Jan. 14, 2020, a year and a half behind schedule.

Muni’s Central Subway will carry passengers from the Caltrain terminal down the middle of Fourth Street, descend into a tunnel between Bryant and Harrison streets and make a subterranean journey beneath the busiest parts of the city — passing under the BART tracks and heading below Stockton Street — to arrive in Chinatown’s Washington Street Station.

The subway will operate as an extension of the T-Third line. One of four stations will be at street level at Fourth and Brannan streets, while three will be in the subway: Moscone Center, Union Square and Chinatown. Delays in constructing the Chinatown Station have slowed the subway’s opening.

Even when finished, though, work to lengthen the subway could continue. While Central Subway service will end at Chinatown, the tunnel actually reaches into North Beach, where the tunnel-boring machines were extracted. This has led to suggestions — and early planning — for possible extensions to Fisherman’s Wharf, the Marina and even the Presidio.

Read more on Central Subway.