Orange Line (San Diego Trolley)

The Orange Line is an 18.0-mile (29.0 km) light rail line in the San Diego Trolley system, operated by San Diego Trolley, Inc. an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.[2] It currently operates between Downtown San Diego and El Cajon.[3][4] The Orange Line has the lowest ridership of the San Diego Trolley's three regular lines, transporting 10,896,289 riders during FY 2014 according to the MTS.[1]

Orange Line
Orange Line train at Downtown San Diego
5th Avenue Station (March 2008).
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerMetropolitan Transit System
LocaleSan Diego, California
TerminiCourthouse
Arnele Avenue
Stations19
WebsiteSDMTS - Trolley
Service
TypeLight rail
SystemSan Diego Trolley
Operator(s)San Diego Trolley, Inc.
Rolling stock3-car trains (typically, one SD100 between two streetcar-length S70US)
Ridership10,896,289 (FY 2014)[1]
History
OpenedMarch 23, 1986 (1986-03-23)[2]
Technical
Line length18.0 mi (29.0 km)
Number of tracks2 tracks
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
(standard gauge)
Electrification600 V DC Overhead lines
Operating speed55 mph (89 km/h) (max)
Route map
Blue Line
 Courthouse
Civic Center
 Fifth Avenue
 City College
 Park & Market
 12th & Imperial Transit Center
Green & Silver lines
Blue Line
Storage and Maintenance Yard
I-5
 25th & Commercial
 32nd & Commercial
SR 15
I-805
 47th Street
 Euclid Avenue
 Encanto/62nd Street
 Massachusetts Avenue
 Lemon Grove Depot
SR 94
 Spring Street
 La Mesa Boulevard
I-8
Green Line
 Grossmont Transit Center
SR 125
 Amaya Drive
I-8
 El Cajon Transit Center
I-8
 Arnele Avenue
Green Line
all stations accessible

The line is one of four lines in the Trolley system, the others include the Blue, Green and Silver lines.[2]

At night, the San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad uses the Orange Line right of way east of the rail yard near the 12th & Imperial Transit Center for its freight service to El Cajon and Santee.[5]

History
Orange Line train at Downtown San Diego America Plaza (January 2008).

The Orange Line is the second line in the San Diego Trolley system. Service began on March 23, 1986, originally as the East Line and initially operated between downtown San Diego and Euclid Avenue.[6][7] The East Line, as it was then called, kept this name after successive extensions to Spring Street on May 12, 1989,[6] to the El Cajon Transit Center on June 23, 1989,[6] along the Bayside in downtown San Diego on June 30, 1990,[7] and finally to Santee Town Center on August 26, 1995.[6]

The line was renamed the Orange Line in 1997.[6] Service between Gillespie Field and Santee Town Center was replaced by the Green Line in July 2005 upon that line's introduction.[6][7]

2012 realignment

During a system redesign on September 2, 2012, the Orange Line's eastern terminus was further shortened to the El Cajon Transit Center, while Orange Line service along the Bayside was eliminated and its western terminus was rerouted to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego.[8]

Trolley Renewal Project
Main article: San Diego Trolley – Trolley Renewal Project

To accommodate the new Siemens S70 models so that they could be used on the line, Trolley stations needed to undergo renovation, although this was done over a period of time to prevent the disruption of operation. The new S70 models began operation on the Orange Line in January 2013,[9] once all remaining Orange Line stations had been upgraded to handle them, and all renovation work on the Orange Line was completed in 2013.[9]

2017 and 2018 realignment

On July 11, 2017, the Orange Line was once again realigned to terminate at America Plaza instead of Santa Fe Depot.[10] MTS says the change should help improve on-time performance of the Orange Line and relieve train congestion at Santa Fe Depot.[11]

In order to remove train congestion at America Plaza in preparation for the Mid-Coast trolley extension to University City,[12] MTS constructed a new Courthouse station which serves Orange Line trolleys as the new western terminus for the line.[13][14] Courthouse station is single platform station, and located on C street between State and Union. The station opened on April 29, 2018.[15] The line was also re-extended at that time to service Arnele Avenue.

Stations
See also: List of San Diego Trolley stations
Location Station Connections
Core, San Diego Courthouse
Civic Center  Blue Line
 Silver Line
Fifth Avenue  Blue Line
 Silver Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 3, 120
East Village, San Diego City College  Blue Line
 Silver Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 2, 5, 7, 20, 30, Rapid 215, Rapid 225, Rapid 235, Rapid Express 280, Rapid Express 290
Park & Market  Blue Line
 Silver Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 3, 5
12th & Imperial Transit Center  Blue Line
 Green Line
 Silver Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 4, 12, 901, 929
Greyhound Lines
Grant Hill, San Diego 25th & Commercial Metropolitan Transit System: 3
Stockton, San Diego 32nd & Commercial Metropolitan Transit System: 4
Chollas View, San Diego 47th Street
Emerald Hills, San Diego Euclid Avenue Metropolitan Transit System: 3, 4, 5, 13, 60, 916, 917, 955
Encanto, San Diego Encanto/62nd Street Metropolitan Transit System: 4, 916, 917, 961
Lemon Grove Massachusetts Avenue
Lemon Grove Depot Metropolitan Transit System: 856, 936
La Mesa Spring Street Metropolitan Transit System: 851, 855
La Mesa Boulevard Metropolitan Transit System: 1, 7
Grossmont Transit Center  Green Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 852, 854
Amaya Drive  Green Line
El Cajon El Cajon Transit Center  Green Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 15, 815, 816, 833, 848, 864, 872, 874, 875, 888, 891, 892, 894
Greyhound Lines
Sycuan Casino Shuttle
Arnele Avenue  Green Line
Metropolitan Transit System: 115, 833

Future

In January 2013, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and SANDAG conducted talks about a possible trolley extension to San Diego International Airport. SANDAG has been conducting feasibility studies on an extension to Lindbergh Field since 2009. There are many different plans and scenarios for such an extension, but one of the possible scenarios is to extend the Orange Line from downtown San Diego up N. Harbor Drive to the passenger terminals on the south side of Lindbergh Field, with possible stops along the way. Currently, there is no projected start or completion date for such a proposed extension of the Orange Line to Lindbergh Field.

References
  1. "MTS Announces a Record 95 Million Passengers Rode the Bus and Trolley in FY 2014". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. August 19, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  2. "San Diego Trolley, Inc" (pdf). San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. February 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2015 – via http://www.sdmts.com/about-mts.
  3. "SDMTS - Trolley". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  4. "San Diego's Green Line Will Finally Arrive Downtown In September". KPBS. April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  5. "San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad". Genesee & Wyoming. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  6. "MTS Historical Timeline". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  7. Jeff Ristine (July 23, 2006). "After 25 years, the trolley keeps on moving". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  8. "SDMTS Service Changes, September 2012". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. September 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  9. "Trolley Renewal Breakthrough: New Low-Floor Trolleys Now Operate on the Orange Line!". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). January 9, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  10. "June Service Changes". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  11. "Metropolitan Transit System Facebook Comment". June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  12. "Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project". San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  13. Alexander Nguyen (June 30, 2015). "SANDAG, MTS Receives State Grant to Bolster Public Transit". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  14. Caroline Howe (March 18, 2016). "San Diego MTS Announces $108 Million in Projects". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  15. Kelly Hessedal (April 29, 2018). "New trolley station opens in downtown San Diego". KFMB-TV CBS 8. Retrieved April 30, 2018.

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