Special thanks to James Greenhalgh for creating the original content on this page.

Site author has added updated photos
in May 2010

SDTI operates 3 trolley routes - the Blue, Orange and Green lines for a total of 53 stations over 86 km. The first leg of the trolley opened in July 26, 1981, and operated on the Main Line of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE). The initial line was a single track which was eventually double tracked in 1984. The next extension in March of 1986 operated along the La Mesa Branch of the SD&AE Railway.

Cab of the U2

Toronto Comparison:

The Siemens S70 vehicles are similar to the type of vehicle desired for Toronto's Transit City Light Rail system. The S70 is a similar length, has doors on both sides, has cabs at both ends and has wheelchair access. However, the S70 is only about 70% low-floor. Transit City vehicles will be 100% low floor.

The San Diego Trolley is a good example of LRT implementation with the following features:

• actual Rapid Transit implementation in outer areas with some stations spaced close to 2 km

• interlining

• downtown transit mall

• fenced-in surface ROW

• separated median in roadway

• parallelling railway ROW

• short tunnel section

Fare collection:

One-Way Trolley Tickets, available for $2.50 from ticket vending machines, are good for travel for two hours from the time of purchase on any MTS Trolley travelling away from the point of purchase.

Transfers between Trolleys are allowed to complete your one-way trip. Transfers between trolley and bus and Round trips are not allowed with a one-way ticket. Tickets must be purchased before boarding the Trolley from the ticket vending machines at each station.

Regional Day Passes are $5.00 and are available from ticket vending machines and bus operators. They are good for unlimited rides on most MTS Bus and Trolley routes (except Premium Express, Rural, ADA Paratransit, and Special Services) as well as NCTD BREEZE buses, SPRINTER and FAST.

Multi-day passes are available, but are only good for consecutive days. 2-day passes cost $9, 3-day passes cost $12, and 4-day passes cost $15.

Here is a description of the trips on each of the three lines:

U2 operators align the wheelchair door to this symbol:

Blue Line

A trip on the Blue Line takes approximately 56 minutes.

This line starts out at the Old Town Transit Center station which has connections to local buses, Amtrak and the Coaster Commuter Rail line.

Trolleys proceed south in their own right of way, parallel to the railway line towards Downtown San Diego. Many level crossings along this stretch of the line have a single set of signals that operate when either a Trolley or a train pass.

The first stop is Washington St. followed by Middletown, with the line remaining at grade with the railway.

South of Middletown, the line rises to pass over West Laurel Street and West Juniper Street while the railway remains at grade. This is followed by a drop that goes below grade to pass under West Hawthorn Street and West Grape Street before returning to grade and arriving at County Center/Little Italy station.

West Hawthorn and Grape Streets are one-way streets that provide main access between downtown and the San Diego Airport.

The trip from County Center/Little Italy is a short distance to Santa Fe Depot. This station also has connections to Amtrak and the Coaster.

Signage at Santa Fe Depot station

Just south of Santa Fe Depot, the line turns east and begins interlining with the Orange line. The east alignment is for a short block before the line curves back to the north to enter America Plaza. Essentially, America Plaza is located across the street from Santa Fe Depot, hence the U-turn movement.

America Plaza station is covered with a high curved roof and is situated on a curve, with its other end facing east. At the end of rush hour service, some northbound runs on the Blue Line run as trippers to America Plaza, where they go out of service and head along the Orange Line's route to get back to the maintenance facility next to the 12th & Imperial Transit Center.

Southbound Blue Line Trolley at Fifth Avenue

Leaving the east-facing end of America Plaza, Trolleys travel along C Street stopping first at Civic Center station.

Along C Street, the line is sometimes in a transit mall and somtimes on stretches of road partially shared with vehicles for a block or two. Where the street is shared with other traffic, the other traffic is restricted to its own lane and is one-way only, with the traffic lane on the left side of the tracks.

After Civic Center, the next stop is Fifth Avenue, followed by City College.

City College station is also situated on a curve as the line turns south along 12th Street, which is also partially shared with other vehicles.

At 12th & Imperial Transit Center station, the Orange line turns east while this line continues south.

This station has bus connections and it is in close proximity to Petco Park. The station is also nearby the main MTS offices and the LRV Maintenance facility.

After leaving 12th & Imperial, the Blue Line Trolley runs in its own right of way, roughly parallel to Interstate 5 for 23 kilometres to the San Ysidro/Tijuana Transit Center where the international border is located.

The portion of track from downtown to the Mexican border was originally the main line of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. Trolleys share trackage with freight trains along this stretch and stations do not have a raised curb for boarding. Trolleys can reach speeds of up to 80 km/h and stations are between 1 and 2 kilometres apart.

The first stop south of 12th & Imperial is Barrio Logan.

Stations on this part of the line have a common design. On the west side (southbound platform) the platform is concrete and may have one or two small shelters. On the east side (northbound platform) there is generally a larger covered area with seats, timetable information and sometimes vending machines.

The next stop is Harborside, followed by Pacific Fleet, named after the naval base located next to the station.

Several of the stations along this line have the tracks encased in concrete for the entire length of the station, making crossing on foot easy. Some stations have pavement for crossing only in the centre section in front of the covered area on the east side.

The next station after Pacific Fleet is 8th Street. All stations from 8th Street south have connecting bus routes.

The next is 24th Street, the first station south of downtown where only the section of track in front of the covered area is paved.

The next stop is Bayfront/E Street. At this stop, there is a third track embedded in the pavement between the northbound track and the platform, but this track is not connected to anything at either end of the station.

The next station is H Street, another station where only the section of track in front of the covered area is paved.

Southbound Trolley at H Street

Following H Street is Palomar Street. This station has a third track east of the northbound track, but unlike Bayfront/E Street, this third track is connected to in-service tracks.

After Palomar Street, the next stop is Palm Avenue, another station where only the section of track in front of the covered area is paved.

Southbound arriving at Iris Avenue

After Palm Avenue is Iris Avenue. Unlike the other stations on this part of the line, Palm Avenue has the large covered structure on the west (southbound) side of the tracks.

The next station is Beyer Blvd, the second last on the line.

After the run from Beyer Blvd, the line rounds a curve, passes the scissors crossover and passes a level crossing before entering the San Ysidro Transit Center.

Blue Line Trolley at railroad crossing before entering
San Ysidro Transit Center station

At the south end of the platform at San Ysidro, there is a passageway to a walkway over road traffic to the international border.

Orange Line

A trip on the Orange Line takes approximately 61 minutes.

This line starts out at 12th and Imperial station in the southeast quadrant of downtown San Diego. The boarding platform for the terminus of this line is around the corner from the covered platforms at this station for the Blue Line and for the through-service of the Orange Line (after it travels around the downtown area in a loop).

The line heads northwest passing Petco Park and follows the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade along its own right of way. The first stop is Gaslamp Quarter.

Out of service trolley passing through Seaport Village

Continuing, the next stop is Convention Center followed by Seaport Village providing easy access to these significant San Diego destinations.

Gillespie-bound Trolley arriving at Seaport Village

Next, the line jogs east and begins interlining with the Blue Line. The jog is about a block where the line turns north again into America Plaza station . America Plaza station is covered and is situated on a curve, with its other end facing east.

From here, Trolleys travel east along C Street stopping at Civic Center, Fifth Avenue, and City College. City College station is also situated on a curve as the line turns south along 12th Street.

Heading down 12th Street, the line makes a stop at Park & Market.

After that, it returns to the 12th & Imperial Transit Center where it makes a stop at the covered platforms.

After leaving this station the line turns east, and runs down the centre of Commercial Street.

The first stop is at 25th & Commercial. This stop has far-side platforms on opposite sides of 25th Street.

The next stop, 32nd & Commercial, is on a curve just east of 32nd Street. This stop has a centre platform between the two tracks, but also has a side platform on the Downtown-bound track, so these Trolleys may be boarded from either side.

It is here that the line moves onto its own right of way (the old La Mesa branch of the SD&AE Railway) and follows a bit of a horseshoe shape curving to the north and back south again before its next stop at 47th Street.

The next stop is Euclid Avenue and the isolated right of way becomes parallel to and on the north side of Imperial Avenue about 500 metres west of this stop.

The line continues along Imperial Avenue for about 3 km before it reaches Encanto/62nd St.

The line continues along Imperial Avenue as it curves more to the northeast and becomes Lemon Grove Avenue before the line reaches the Massachusetts Avenue station, about 3 km from Encanto/62nd Street.

The next station is Lemon Grove, named after the local community. From here, the line enters its own right of way where it crosses over the Martin Luther King Jr Freeway and continues in its own right of way until it reaches the Spring Street station, about 2 km from Lemon Grove.

Just after the Spring Street station, the line curves to a north-northwest alignment parallel to and on the west side of Spring Street. Initially, the right of way is higher in elevation than Spring Street, but the two elevations merge over the next 500 metres.

Another 500 metres up Spring Street, and the line reaches the La Mesa Blvd station. The line continues about another 700 metres before it crosses over Interstate 8 (I-8) and curves to the northeast as it merges and interlines with the Green Line.

From the junction, the line travels almost 1.5 km before reaching the first station served by both the Green and Orange Lines, Grosmont Transit Center.

Another 900 metres takes the line to Amaya Drive before the line curves to the south, crosses under I-8 and then curves to a northward alignment, travelling almost 3 km to El Cajon Transit Center station.

The line continues north, crossing again under I-8 where the Interstate curves to the east, and reaches Arnele Avenue approximately 1.3 km from El Cajon. The line continues north, with a jog to the east followed by a curve to a north-northwest alignment before reaching Gillespie Field station. This station is named after the municipal airfield on the east side of the line.

Green Line

A trip on the Green Line takes approximately 47 minutes.

This line starts out at the Old Town Transit Center station which has connections to local buses, the Blue line, Amtrak and the Coaster Commuter Rail line. Trolleys proceed north in their own right of way for a short distance before turning east towards Mission Valley. The line roughly parallels Interstate 8 (I-8) on the north side.

 

Stops along the way include Morena/Linda Vista, Fashion Valley Transit Center, Hazard Center, Mission Valley Center, Rio Vista, Fenton Parkway and Qualcomm Stadium. Much of this route is along an elevated guide way.

Old Town-bound Trolley at Mission Valley Center - this
station is located at the back of an open shopping centre

Qualcomm station features one center platform and two side platforms. It also has two pocket tracks at either end of the station to assist with special event service.

Continuing on an elevated structure, the next station is Mission San Diego situated above the parking lot of a fitness club. The elevated line shifts closer to I-8 for a small distance before curving away and into an S-curve back towards I-8 where Grantville station is located.

Just past Grantville, the line crosses I-8 at about a 45 degree angle but curves to end up parallelling it on its south side cut into the side of a hill.

The line continues along the hill on the south side of I-8 for about 1 km, then it curves to the south away from I-8 and into a tunnel towards San Diego State University (SDSU) station, the system's only underground station. Though underground, the line is not very deep underground as grade level is approximately at the height of the overhead wiring.

SDSU station is underground, but just barely!

The trolley then leaves the tunnel, continuing along the south side of I-8, more or less at grade while making stops at Alvarado Medical Center and 70th Street.

From here the line rises in order to again cross I-8 before interlining with the Orange Line for the trip to Gillespie Field.

The Green Line continues for almost another 2 km to reach one more stop at Santee Town Center station. Just north of Gillespie Field, there is a level crossing over North Marshall Avenue before the line merges to a single track. In another 150 metres, the line crosses into the median of Cuyamaca Street.

The Green line continues north one more stop to Santee Town Center station. The line is single tracked for this short portion travelling along the median of Cuyamaca Street. Just after crossing Mission Gorge Road, the line curves to the northeast on its own right of way among the parking lot and shops at Santee Town Center to reach the terminal station. The line branches to two tracks for the station, though the east track is mainly used.

Arriving at Santee Town Centre

Right of way on the Green Line

Special Event Service

The San Diego Trolley also operates special event service during sporting events at Qualcomm Stadium and/or Petco Park, as well as other major events. The trolleys operate between Qualcomm Stadium and 12th and Imperial station.

A future extension is planned from the Old Town Transit Center northward 17 kilometres to the University City community in December, 2015.

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This page last updated December 23, 2010