Welcome Back, Light Rail

by  • 

Partial service on Silicon Valley’s light rail system returns today. At around 8am this morning, service on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Orange Line returned to service.

Also, partial service on the Green Line between Old Ironsides and Civic Center light rail stations was restored today. VTA light rail will be FREE to ride from now until September 12.

No current ETA is available for when light rail service south and west of Civic Center station will be restored.

Meanwhile, do you typically ride VTA light rail to or from Campbell or South San Jose? Check out our alternate VTA bus guide to the light rail shutdown. It lists alternate VTA bus lines that can be used in place of light rail, until full service is restored. That guide will be edited to reflect the partial return of VTA light rail service before Monday morning.

To help get you re-acclimated to VTA light rail, read our first-time guide to riding VTA light rail. Also, read these tips to help you stay safe on light rail platforms (VTA or other transit systems). Finally, view this video that reminds drivers to watch out for oncoming light rail trains and passengers crossing the street at light rail stations.

Let’s stay safe as VTA light rail returns to Silicon Valley.

Eugene Bradley
Founder & CEO, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Bus Alternatives For VTA Light Rail

by  • 

Light rail service in Santa Clara County is still down. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) continues to suspend all light rail service after the shootings at Guadalupe Yard May 26. VTA briefly ran shuttle buses in the place of light rail from May 27 until June 1, until limited shuttle bus service was restored August 2. There is currently no ETA for when light rail service will be restored.

Meanwhile, here are some tips for you to use VTA bus (and Caltrain) service that parallels light rail.

Read more →

Shooting, Fatalities At VTA Light Rail Shop

by  • 

https://twitter.com/SVscanners/status/1397622106657935361

Police scanner audio above may be objectionable and sensitive to some of our readers. Listener discretion is advised.

May 26th, 2021 is now a day that will live in infamy in Silicon Valley. At around 6:30am this morning, we learned that a mass shooting had taken place at VTA’s Guadalupe light rail maintenance shops on 1st and Younger in San Jose. (That’s by the County Sheriff’s Office, and 1 block north of the Santa Clara County Building and County Jail.)

As of 3pm, nine (9) people are dead, including the shooter. The shootings took place during when the light rail employees were having a morning meeting.

VTA shut down light rail as of noon, for the rest of today. Shuttle buses are running instead of light rail throughout the system today. This will allow law enforcement to properly investigate the Guadalupe light rail (LRT) shops, as the facility remains an active crime investigation scene at this time.

Watch your favorite news outlet for the latest information. We’ll try to keep things updated here, as information and circumstances warrant.

More on this – and how YOU can help provide relief for the victims and their families – are below.

Read more →