Silver Line (San Diego Trolley)
The Silver Line is a heritage streetcar light rail line operated by the San Diego Trolley, an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. It currently operates the "downtown loop"; a circle of tracks around Downtown San Diego, and is operated using renovated PCC streetcars. It is officially named after San Diego Gas & Electric, which has provided grants to help restore at least one of the streetcars, as well as sponsoring a free educational program for third graders on the vintage line.
The line is one of four lines in the Trolley system, the others include the Blue, Orange, and Green lines.
History
The Silver Line is the fourth line in the San Diego Trolley system as well as the first circular route with service beginning in 2011. Planning for the Silver Line dates back to the early 1990s, upon the completion of the Downtown Loop, consideration was given to providing a downtown trolley service that circles around the loop. MTS originally considered using three Vienna Class N1 cars formerly used on the Wiener Stadtbahn in Vienna, Austria, but their age and limited power proved incompatible with the present trolley system, and renovations to make them so were considered unfeasible.Eventually in 2005, MTS would settle on using PCC streetcars; which were formerly used by the San Diego Electric Railway, San Diego's former transit service, in the 1930s and 40s. Between 2005 and 2010, MTS acquired six PCC streetcars formerly used in San Francisco and Philadelphia, and would partner with the San Diego historic streetcar society, a non-profit organization developed to educate the public of the history of the San Diego Electric Railway, to help restore these streetcars for use on the eventual line.
In early 2011 the first of these streetcars, Car 529, was completed and inauguration of the Silver Line began on August 27, 2011. Restoring this car for use in the trolley system required over 3,000 volunteer hours and $850,000 in donations. For the first two weeks of the vintage trolley's run, riders who boarded at the 12th & Imperial Transit Center received "commemorative tickets" to use for boarding the trolley. Due to the limited amount of streetcars, initial service for the line was limited to weekends and holidays every 30 minutes between the hours of 10 am to 2 pm. On December 20, 2011, service was expanded to Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 2 pm as well as weekends and holidays from 11 am to 3:30 pm. It was expected that more service hours will be added upon the completion of additional streetcars.
Trolley Renewal Project
While the Silver Line had no plans to use the newer Siemens S70 models, the stations along the line underwent restoration to improve service on the trolley system and to enable usage of the Siemens S70 on the Orange and Blue Lines, as part of the Trolley Renewal Project. All the stations served by the Silver Line had been renovated as of Fall 2013.COVID-19 pandemic suspension
On April 12, 2020, all Silver line operations were suspended indefinitely. The changes come in light of 5 bus operators testing positive for coronavirus.Operations
Due to the limited amount of streetcars, service for the line as of December 2015 only operated every 30 minutes during Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:52 am to 1:52 pm, as well as on weekends and select holidays from 10:52 am to 3:22 pm. As of July 2019, service operates on Fridays from 5:52 pm to 9:52 pm, Saturdays from 1:52 pm to 9:52 pm, and Sundays from 9:52 am to 5:52 pm.Ridership
Due to its limited days and hours of operation, and due to some service interruptions throughout 2014, the Silver Line transported just 29,104 riders during FY 2014. In FY 2015, 32,944 riders rode the Silver Line according to the MTS.Stations
As the heritage PCC streetcars are single-ended, the Silver Line operates one-way in a clockwise-only rotation around downtown San Diego.| Location | Station | Connections |
| East Village, San Diego | Metropolitan Transit System: 4, 12, 901, 929 Greyhound Lines | |
| Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego | ||
| Marina, San Diego | ||
| Marina, San Diego | ||
| Core, San Diego | Amtrak California: Pacific Surfliner North County Transit District: Coaster Metropolitan Transit System: 83, Rapid 215, Rapid 225, Rapid 235, Rapid Express 280, Rapid Express 290, 923, 992 | |
| Core, San Diego | ||
| Core, San Diego | Metropolitan Transit System: 3, 120 | |
| East Village, San Diego | Metropolitan Transit System: 2, 5, 7, 20, 30, Rapid 215, Rapid 225, Rapid 235, Rapid Express 280, Rapid Express 290 | |
| East Village, San Diego | Metropolitan Transit System: 3, 5 |
Rolling stock
All PCC cars operating on the Silver Line are Post-War St. Louis Car Company all-electric units.The Silver Line began service in August 2011 with one operational heritage 1946 Presidents Conference Committee streetcar, Car #529.
In March 2014, MTS took possession of a second 1946 Presidents Conference Committee streetcar, destined to join the Silver Line fleet as Car #530. Restoration work on this trolley car, aided by a grant from San Diego Gas & Electric, took one year, and Car #530 entered service on the Silver Line on March 2, 2015, as part of the centennial celebrations for Balboa Park.
Car #531, a former SEPTA PCC manufactured in 1948, has also been funded for restoration at the MTS PCC shop, but has not made its debut on the line yet.
All cars have had pantograph current collection equipment added to them, as the overhead contact system that MTS operates is not compatible with trolley poles. The cars on the Silver Line retain their trolley poles, however, for visual effect.