Type Light rail Opened 1991 | Stations 36
(plus 4 planned) | |
 | ||
System Santa Clara VTA Light Rail Locale Santa Clara County, California
Cities: San Jose and Milpitas Termini Alum Rock Station
Santa Teresa Station | ||
Alum Rock–Santa Teresa is a light rail route operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). The Alum Rock–Santa Teresa route is one of three existing VTA light rail routes. The other two light rail routes are the Mountain View–Winchester line and the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line. On system maps, the line is represented as the Blue Line, however VTA primarily uses its name and Line 901 in their documents.
Contents
Route description
The Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line starts from Alum Rock Transit Center station in East San Jose, travels north along Capitol Avenue (which changes names twice along the route—Great Mall Parkway and Tasman Drive). It then turns south at First Street, traveling through downtown San Jose. Then after brief turns onto West San Carlos Street and Woz Way, the route travels south in the median of State Route 87. The final leg of the route runs south along the median of State Route 85 to its terminus at the Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. The route is approximately 24.2 mi (39 km) long and takes approximately one hour and ten minutes for the entire trip.
Owl service
From February 2000 to April 14, 2003, VTA operated all night train service with light rail vehicles (commonly known as "owl service") on a 70-minute frequency. VTA light rail was the only light rail service in the United States to operate 24 hours a day. The owl service was curtailed in 2003 as a result of mounting deficits.
Construction history
The Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line is a culmination of three separate construction projects that have gradually expanded the light rail system. Its specific pathway, and the fact that it shares part with the Mountain View–Winchester line, is the result of reroutes that occurred after the Tasman East/Capitol and Vasona extensions to East San Jose and Campbell, respectively.
Original Guadelupé line
This light rail route contains the entire original Guadalupé line opened in April 1991 from Tasman station to Santa Teresa station. The stations between Tasman and Convention Center are also served by the Mountain View–Winchester line.
Tasman West extension and Tasman East extension first phase
The Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line also contains parts of Tasman West extension opened in December 1999 from Tasman station to Baypointe station. The first phase of the Tasman East extension opened in May 2001 between Baypointe and I-880/Milpitas stations.
Tasman East/Capitol extension
On June 24, 2004, the 8.3-mile (13.4-km) Tasman East/Capitol extension was opened, incorporating 8 new stations. This extension runs from the I-880/Milpitas station east along the Great Mall Parkway in Milpitas, then into East San Jose on Capitol Avenue to Alum Rock Transit Center on Alum Rock Avenue. This extension brings service to the Great Mall of the Bay Area in Milpitas. The total cost of this extension was $432.9 million.
Possible future expansion
A connection to BART on this line is under construction at the Montague station as part of the Silicon Valley BART extension. Future additions to this line may include a light rail station at Gay Avenue, pending funding, and an extension further south on Capitol Expressway to VTA's Eastridge Transit Center and to State Route 87. This extension may eventually be brought all the way around to the existing Capitol station, with an intermediate connection to Caltrain.
Commuter Express light rail
On October 4, 2010, the VTA has introduced a new Commuter Express light rail service on this line, currently operating between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations. The service operates three trips each in the morning (to Baypointe) and in the afternoon (to Santa Teresa) that calls at all stops, and it operates nonstop between Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth stations. It offers free WiFi access on all trains on this service.
Station stops
Transfer to Mountain View–Winchester line anywhere between Tasman and Convention Center.
Station facilities
Many stops along this line have park-and-ride facilities for its passengers, as well as bike stations, including: