Tram systems in San Francisco

San Francisco’s cable car history began in 1873, when Andrew Smith Hallidie demonstrated his cable-powered railway on Clay Street. Public service began on 1 September, and the technology spread rapidly across the city, providing a practical means of climbing hills that were difficult for horse-drawn transport.

The city’s first electric tram line opened on 27 April 1892. Electric trams offered lower construction and operating costs than cable railways and gradually became the dominant form of urban rail transport. The earthquake and fires of April 1906 devastated the transport network, and many damaged cable routes were subsequently rebuilt for electric operation. Cable cars survived principally on the steepest streets.

The San Francisco Municipal Railway opened on 28 December 1912, initially operating the A and B tram lines along Geary Street. Known as Muni, it established a publicly owned alternative to the city’s private transport companies.

Expansion soon followed. The J opened in 1917, while the Twin Peaks Tunnel opened in 1918 with the K. The L followed in 1919 and the M in 1925. Completion of the Sunset Tunnel enabled the N to open in 1928. These routes provided connections through or around the hills separating central San Francisco from its growing residential districts.

In 1944, the city acquired the private Market Street Railway, bringing its services into Muni. Many routes were subsequently converted to motor bus or trolleybus operation. Five electric tram lines survived: J, K, L, M and N. Their tunnels and reserved sections of track helped preserve a role for rail transport as the wider streetcar network contracted.

The cable cars also faced replacement. In 1947, a campaign led by Friedel Klussmann secured voter protection for the municipal Powell Street services. Further changes during the 1950s produced the present three-line network in December 1957. The system underwent a comprehensive rehabilitation between September 1982 and June 1984, requiring its temporary closure.

Construction of the Market Street subway transformed the surviving tram routes into a light rail network. Muni Metro service began on the N in February 1980, using new Boeing light rail vehicles. The remaining lines transferred in stages, with all five using the subway full-time by November 1982. Surface branches remained in operation beyond the central underground section.

A waterfront extension opened in 1998, taking Muni Metro along the Embarcadero and King Street to the Caltrain terminal at Fourth and King streets. This expanded rail access to the southeastern waterfront.

Moving regular tram services underground created an opportunity for historic streetcars to return to Market Street. Summer Trolley Festivals ran from 1983 to 1987, demonstrating support for a permanent heritage service.

The F opened on 1 September 1995 between the Castro district and the Transbay Terminal. On 4 March 2000, it was extended along the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf, establishing the route’s present combination of Market Street and waterfront operation.

A second historic streetcar service, the E, began in 2015 between the Fourth and King area and Fisherman’s Wharf. Service was suspended in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The T opened in April 2007 as the first phase of the Third Street Light Rail Project, extending modern rail service through the city’s southeastern districts.

Its second phase, the Central Subway, opened for limited weekend shuttle services on 19 November 2022. Full through operation began on 7 January 2023, when the T was diverted through the new subway to Chinatown. The extension added stations serving Chinatown, Union Square and Yerba Buena, creating a separate underground route across the city centre.

San Francisco’s light rail, historic streetcar and cable car routes are listed below. The E historic streetcar route is currently suspended.

Line	Description
J	Line J runs between Embarcadero and Balboa Park via Church Street, Dolores Park, Noe Valley and Glen Park.
K	Line K runs between Embarcadero and Balboa Park via Castro, Forest Hill, West Portal and Ocean Avenue.
L	Line L runs between Embarcadero and San Francisco Zoo via Castro, Forest Hill, West Portal and Taraval Street.
M	Line M runs between Embarcadero and Balboa Park via West Portal, Stonestown, San Francisco State University and Ocean View.
N	Line N runs between Fourth & King (Caltrain) and Ocean Beach via the Embarcadero, downtown, Sunset Tunnel and Judah Street.
T	Line T runs between Chinatown and Sunnydale via Union Square, Yerba Buena, Mission Bay and Third Street.
E	Line E is a historic streetcar that runs between Fourth & King (Caltrain) and Fisherman’s Wharf via the Embarcadero and Ferry Building.
F	Line F is a historic streetcar that runs between Castro and Fisherman’s Wharf via Market Street, Ferry Building and the Embarcadero.
C	Line C is a cable car that runs between California & Drumm and California & Van Ness via the Financial District and Nob Hill.
PH	Line PH is a cable car that runs between Powell & Market and Hyde & Beach via Union Square, Nob Hill and Russian Hill.
PM	Line PM is a cable car that runs between Powell and Market & Taylor and Bay via Union Square, Nob Hill and North Beach.

Muni Metro and the historic streetcar network use standard-gauge track of 1,435 mm and a nominal 600 V DC overhead power supply. Metro vehicles collect electricity through pantographs, while the historic streetcars use trolley poles.

The Metro network combines underground railways, reserved surface tracks and street running. Lines J, K, L, M and N share the Market Street subway, with K, L and M continuing through the Twin Peaks Tunnel towards West Portal. The N passes through the separate Sunset Tunnel. The T uses the Central Subway beneath Fourth and Stockton streets before joining the surface railway towards Sunnydale.

Underground stations have high platforms, as do several surface sections, including much of the T corridor. Elsewhere, stops range from boarding islands to marked stopping places beside the road. Metro vehicles have movable steps to accommodate both high platforms and street-level boarding. Accessible boarding at lower stops is provided at designated locations using ramps and small raised platforms; accessibility is therefore not uniform across all surface stops.

The Market Street subway uses automatic train control, while surface operation involves street signals and interaction with road traffic. A replacement train control system is being developed for both underground and surface sections of the Metro network.

Historic streetcars operate on surface tracks along Market Street and the waterfront. The F has turning loops at its termini, allowing operation by single-ended vehicles. Accessible stops use raised boarding platforms or wayside lifts, with bridge plates providing access between the platform and the streetcar.

Metro storage and maintenance are concentrated at the Curtis E. Green Light Rail Center beside Balboa Park station and at Muni Metro East, near Third Street on the eastern waterfront. The historic streetcar fleet is based at Cameron Beach Yard, also in the Balboa Park area.

The cable car railway is mechanically separate from the electric tram network and uses a narrower gauge of 1,067 mm. Cars grip continuously moving cables beneath the street, powered by stationary electric motors at the Washington and Mason streets powerhouse. Four cables serve the three routes, moving at approximately 15.3 km/h. The powerhouse complex also contains the cable car depot, workshops and museum.

Muni Metro uses Siemens S200 SF articulated light rail vehicles, designated LRV4 by SFMTA. They entered passenger service in November 2017 and replaced the previous Breda fleet, whose farewell operation took place in November 2025. The replacement and expansion programme provides for 219 Siemens vehicles.

Each Siemens vehicle is approximately 22.9 metres long and 2.65 metres wide, with driving cabs at both ends and doors on both sides. The high-floor design accommodates both platform and street-level boarding, and vehicles can operate individually or coupled into trains. Equipment includes regenerative braking, air conditioning and electronic passenger information. The design maximum speed is 80 km/h, although operating speeds depend on the route and its surroundings.

The historic streetcar fleet comprises several distinct groups. PCC cars form the principal fleet for regular F services, including vehicles originally built for San Francisco, Philadelphia and Newark. These are supplemented by Milan-built Peter Witt cars dating from 1928 and a collection of older vehicles from San Francisco and other cities. The PCC fleet includes both single-ended cars and double-ended examples. Refurbishment has enabled these historic vehicles to remain in public transport service, with accessibility adaptations varying by type.

The cable car fleet has two principal designs. The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason routes use single-ended cars requiring turntables at their termini. The California Street route uses longer double-ended cars that reverse through track switches. The cars have no onboard traction motors: movement depends on the operator engaging the underground cable with a mechanical grip, while separate braking systems control stopping and descending. The fleet is maintained through extensive rebuilding and the construction of replacement cars using traditional designs.

SFMTA is carrying out a combined programme of transit and safety improvements on the J and M corridors in the Mission Terrace and Ocean View neighbourhoods. Construction began in summer 2026, with completion forecast for early 2028.

The work includes wider boarding islands and sidewalks at 13 stops, wheelchair-accessible ramps at four stops, new traffic signals and pedestrian safety measures. These improvements are intended to make boarding safer and improve accessibility and service reliability on the existing routes. Further information is available from SFMTA.

The approved K Ingleside Rapid Project covers Ocean Avenue between Junipero Serra Boulevard and Balboa Park station. It includes platform improvements to allow fuller use of two-car trains, transit priority measures and changes to improve pedestrian safety.

Limited sections of transit lane are planned for early 2027, followed by the start of capital construction during 2027. Overall completion is currently forecast for 2029. Further information is available from SFMTA.

The Train Control Upgrade Project will replace the existing automatic train control system in the subway and extend communications-based train control to the Metro network’s surface routes. The programme is intended to improve reliability, capacity and service frequency.

The first phase will introduce the technology along the Embarcadero and Third Street corridors, with a demonstration phase beginning in 2027. Subway technology replacement is scheduled to begin in 2028, followed by further surface installation phases from 2029. Overall completion is currently forecast for 2034. Further information is available from SFMTA.

SFMTA relaunched its Central Subway North Beach Extension Study in 2026. It is examining a one-station extension beyond Chinatown using unfinished tunnels that already extend to the Columbus Avenue and Union Street area. The study will assess feasibility and costs and compare this option with a longer extension towards Fisherman’s Wharf and beyond. Study work is expected to continue until mid-2028; no construction programme or opening date has been committed, and the study will not select final station locations or alignments. Further information is available from SFMTA.

A separate Geary/19th Avenue subway proposal would provide a new rail corridor serving busy districts in western San Francisco. An initial study produced its final report in June 2026, establishing a framework for further planning. The project remains a long-term proposal, with its technology, detailed alignment, funding and delivery arrangements still to be determined. Further information is available from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.