Currently running on an outdated floppy disk system, San Francisco transportation officials took a significant step forward last week in upgrading the train control system that runs the Muni Metro subway.
Last Tuesday, directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) approved a $212 million contract with Hitachi Rail to modernize and bring the train control system into the 21st century. The contract also includes an additional cost of $114 million for support services from Hitachi after the project is complete.
Transit officials said that the current train control system has been in service since 1998 and is now out-of-date and at the end of its useful life. Currently, the system has caused a high number of delays in the subway due to trains failing to communicate as they enter the subway through different portals. The total cost to replace the old system with a newer one is $700 million.
Dan Howard, who is in charge of the project for the SFMTA, said that it was critical to replace the 30-year-old computer system that is five generations behind current technology.
“It will be easier and cheaper to maintain the new technology than the old technology,” Howard said. “The technology that we have in the subway now relies on loop cable, which is fragile and easily damaged.”
The 30-year-old computer system is five generations behind current technology.
Howard said the new train control will be a communications-based system that will use some of the technology used in homes and businesses. A staff report said the project will use Wi-Fi to track the exact locations of trains and will continually communicate with each train throughout the system, including on the surface.
The SFMTA plans to begin installing the new system in 2027, with initial testing beginning the following year. Howard said crews would begin testing the system on the surface portions of the N Judah and Third rail lines along The Embarcadero. Following the initial test, the SFMTA would move ahead with installing the new system in the subway and then on the surface level.
SFMTA board Director Steve Heminger said there should be a recurring item on the board’s agenda to receive updates on the project.
“I do think one thing that we suffered from with a couple of the earlier big projects is there wasn’t enough board interaction, and there wasn’t enough questioning, and we ended up with some decisions that candidly we should have avoided,” Heminger said.
Transit officials said they expect to complete the project by the end of 2032.
Jerold Chinn is a freelance reporter who covers transportation in San Francisco.