⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ MUNI Metro: New LRV4 Trains in San Francisco

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Showcased here is some extensive filming of SFMTA's new Siemens S200 LRV4s on all MUNI lines throughout the city. Notable scenic stop locations are also shown, including Judah/La Playa at Ocean Beach, Right of Way/20th, where the entire city skyline can be seen along with Dolores Park, and Right of Way/21st, where the J weaves its way through the backyards of homes. Other outdoor locations and plenty of Market Street station filming are included as well.
Included at some point in the video is a little BART action in the Market Street subway, for no particular reason.
The first of MUNI's new light rail vehicles arrived in San Francisco in January of 2017, and after months of rigorous testing, the first train set, Car 2006, entered revenue service on November 17, 2017. Since then, many more trains have begun operations on all of MUNI's light rail lines, as the old Breda cars will slowly be phased out and replaced over time.
The new trains are equipped with fully automated announcements, electronic destination displays and next-stop information, an enhanced braking system that reduces energy consumption through regenerative braking, and more reliable doors, intended to put them up to the task of transporting thousands of passengers throughout San Francisco every day. They are manufactured by Siemens in Sacramento, making them quite easy to transport the 110 miles to the city.
In the coming months and years, more LRV4 trains will enter service across the MUNI Metro network, as they slowly but surely begin to dominate the streets and tunnels of the system.

[@brianna_lynch]

I love how you can hear the BART trains at the platform below while at Civic Center.

[@evanstonbalce9588]

Same thing at Embarcadero station

[@PawsAndToeBeansSituation]

And Powell, Montgomery, and Menarcadero

[@blue9multimediagroup]

@@PawsAndToeBeansSituation Embarcadero

[@crazyoncoffee]

Listen to the announcements and watch the train enter the station at 5:42. As the train enters the station, the volume of the announcement increases substantially so everyone can hear it even with a train going by. That’s one smart announcement system.

[@tigrovica8417]

Must admit, they make really good sound while accelerating

[@overviewstrain]

This is beautiful and it’s great to see someone wave at 3:10 lol

[@jlbraswell5961]

BART should look into getting platform digital signs like MUNI has replacing the current red letter signs. With the new signs, the route would be displayed with a colored shape to indicate the color of the route.

[@potatoesare_jesus2278]

Yeah maybe George and Gracie too. I love em to death but their station announcements are very Inaudible at this point.

[@qazisnotapeopleperson7167]

They're testing out a pilot display right now. Might be getting them at all stations soon.

[@T_K_O_]

@@qazisnotapeopleperson7167 They look very nice. Hopefully they pull through the pilot phase

[@qazisnotapeopleperson7167]

@@potatoesare_jesus2278 BART stated in a Twitter post that have no plans on getting rid of George and Gracie.

[@KymondFangBeNeon_]

@@qazisnotapeopleperson7167 They're live at Lake Merritt :D

[@timosha21]

I'm a train or tram (Can't make up my mind) and I approve this video!!!

[@TohaBgood2]

Since the Siemens S200 is technically a tram-train this comment fits the situation perfectly!

[@TuukkaVarjoranta]

Excellent video! Very nice to see new Siemens LRV's in the US. The Muni Metro system seems really interesting and well maintained system! Greetings, Tuukka

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

Thank you! We love MUNI, despite all its troubles. Cheers from California!

[@jayo1212]

@@BayAreaTransitNews troubles? As far as I'm concerned, MUNI has none!

[@brianna_lynch]

The new subway announcements are so much better than the old ones 😍

[@brianna_lynch]

Nice catch of the new BART train!

[@dominicmatthews4686]

Nice catch of the new San Francisco 🚊 that is awesome 👏 😍😍😍😍😍😍❤😍

[@lohphat]

It's SO frustrating as a former SF taxpayer that the Breda rolling stock didn't live out its depreciation schedule. They were too heavy and lower capacity than the old Boeing cars they replaced 20 years ago. So much money flushed down the drain due to a poor choice of vendor.

[@crazyoncoffee]

The Breda vehicles did not fulfill their expected life in Boston either. At least Siemens has a better track record and has much experience with LRVs. CAF, who built the new Boston cars on the other hand, have a much more mixed record

[@blue9multimediagroup]

Not poor choice Lowest bidder per federal law

[@jayo1212]

@@crazyoncoffee the Bredas in Boston will fulfill their expected life, and the ones in San Francisco most likely will have as well by the time the Siemens cars have had their teething issues worked out.

[@user-ql8pb6kh1d]

I have rode the muni when I was in middle school

[@MJofLakelandX]

I'm quivering over these announcements. Besides the overhead display, we don't have this here in Baltimore for any of our trains services. Just have to guess.

[@frankdenardo8684]

The J Church line stops by the Safeway store on Market @ Church Street. T Third starts at Balboa Park and ends at Sunnydale/Bayshore, makes the return trip as the K Ingleside to Balboa Park. L Taravel is a bus route until further notice goes from West Portal to the SF Zoo.

[@Rubycon99]

That bell certainly sounds... interesting.

[@rj31789]

It definitely is, especially with how they replicated the mechanical bell on the older trains but in digital form.

[@m0istl0la97]

I wonder how central subways would be announced "Arriving Eastbound,2 car T to Chinatown station. Next T in 4 minutes,T in 6 minutes,T in 10 minutes."

[@HSMiyamoto]

We have Siemens S70 cars in San Diego. I think the S70 is considerably more handsome. The S200's look like a series of linked boxes from the side; an overgrown children's pull-toy. I guess the S2000 is more suitable for street operation, because the cab has slanted side windows. San Diego trains do not have to navigate as many streets in mixed traffic as San Francisco trolleys. Nice to see any rail operator get new equipment, of course.

[@brianbp4f]

Look very unique but sound great

[@miyoo4969]

Thank God we got out of there time to write the Muni or whatever

[@trainrover]

Supposing that cloudiness indeed dominates Friscan skies, the necessity to tint the windows of that there new tram must bemuse..some of us.

[@BenjiCollier]

Are they self leveling at stations? It looks as though it lifted up and then back down around the 4:50 marker (when the doors open)

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

Yeah, they do that at every platform that's on the same level as the train doors (when the train's steps are retracted).

[@PHope-sl4nj]

There’s Even BART In San Francisco.

[@topprogrammingtv]

this is a mix tram metro

[@blue9multimediagroup]

BART train of the future at 7:07

[@blount_man]

Only thing I don't like is that loud wind up sound. Other than that, tbe train looks lovely

[@hulloits4421]

Pantagraphs used on trolley wires, that's a first. edit: oh wait they arent actually trolley wires my bad

[@itssharrlol]

they do that in suburban philadelphia

[@jayo1212]

@@itssharrlol that isn't trolley wire either.

[@starthomas3762]

Rip muni

[@larryboysen5911]

The former Breda seating arrangement beats the "cattle car" layout of the Siemen's by a mile!

[@blue9multimediagroup]

Except the LRV4 holds more people

[@TohaBgood2]

Seats where you can get blocked in by a crazy person? No, thank you! I'll take the modern seating arrangement any day! It exist for a reason!

[@RedHanded1969]

I hated the continuous announcement.. The big marquee is more than enough. Maybe for the blind its still needed ???

[@deleteduser87]

Los Santos tram lol

[@JMH702]

Fr

[@itssharrlol]

those are based off one of the old fleets of LAs

[@blue9multimediagroup]

These aren't them. Those are P2000 LRVs run by LACMTA (Los Angeles). Both cars built by SIEMENS though

[@blue9multimediagroup]

@@itssharrlol they aren't that old. They're only from 96.

[@robfriedrich2822]

San Trolley Vehiclesto.

[@Emoboy381]

I still don't get why people would catch the Muni Metro instead of the buses. Once you learn the bus routes by heart, you can pretty much go anywhere and it's faster

[@qjtvaddict]

The MUNI has a subway segment plus runs on roads without bus routes

[@blue9multimediagroup]

It's faster and has more space

[@m0istl0la97]

The only argument that works with that is the T

[@jayo1212]

I still don't get why people would catch the buses instead of the Muni Metro! That's just absurd!

[@durece100]

Buses can be overcrowded people, which can be unreliable and uncomfortable inside.

[@miyoo4969]

And then I Nana Nana Nana Nana Nana Nana sorry I just got distracted

[@davidlang1125]

Wish Sacramento could have these LRV4’s to replace the dirty, dingy old clunkers we’re stuck with. And to think Seimens manufacture them here in Sac! So cruel! SacRT is just not doing its job. And Sac folks aren’t demanding enough. As if that wasn’t bad enough, fares are higher here than SF or LA. But the fact that the two and half lines (yeah, it’s really just 2.5 lines) don’t really go anywhere renders my complaint moot. In any other city you get on the light rail or train and you have places to go. Not here. Yeah yeah there’s a college, there’s Folsom also the Amtrak station, and the civic core of Sac where the State offices are clustered but for the most part there’s no shopping, no recreational nor sightseeing locales to go to. It was planned to serve bedroom communities. What a dumb idea - it limits ridership growth, a dead end in terms of planning. Thank god the days of planning for bedroom communities are over (just kidding - it’s actually an idea developers still believe in, hence the cancer known as sprawl!). I’ve lived with transit on three continents and SacRT is the worst I’ve experienced. It’s actually embarrassing. Oh how I miss London, Shanghai, Sydney and LA!

[@qjtvaddict]

Bro USA is shittier

[@qjtvaddict]

What is a place of interest in Sacramento?

[@frankdenardo8261]

@@qjtvaddict capital building, old Sacramento, Sacramento river tours

[@blue9multimediagroup]

They're actually getting newer cars in coming years to replace the older SIEMENS U2A. The CAFs will hold out a little longer but they will be replaced as well.

[@jayo1212]

@@frankdenardo8261 California State Railroad Museum.

[@frankphilipp8476]

How long will it last, before they are covered with graffiti and trash inside ? Only in CA. :(

[@m0istl0la97]

Im my whole life ive never seena muni train with graffity.Maybe trash

[@jayo1212]

Graffiti is so 1970's!

[@peteralbert1485]

I’ve been riding these trains since 1984. Graffiti isn’t really a problem on the trains. They’re pretty well maintained. You’ve never been to SF?

[@OliversElevators]

Ok, I just have to say that these trains (and the S70s) have the dumbest-sounding VF drive ever. It sounds terrible when the train is just starting to to move, like at 1:10, and also when the train is accelerating, like at 1:53-2:00. I think Alstom or Bombardier’s LRV VF drives sound a lot cooler. Heck, even the BART train VF drives sound much more epic, like at 6:18.

[@CoffeeSuccubus]

They even changed the announcer voices. I always found that woman voice really aggrivating.

[@chenchacrit621]

It's dangerous no screen door

[@blue9multimediagroup]

No it's not Just stay away from the yellow line

[@davidpomeroy7594]

I ride these on occasion, uncomfortable, loud. The seats are so uncomfortable it’s better to stand. Another waste of San Francisco taxpayers money.

[@tankman_tv9332]

Must have rode the Breda trams, have heard they're bad, pretty sure the siemens are much better

[@plasma2045aviation]

@@tankman_tv9332 I rode on both recently. The Bredas are extremely loud both on the inside and outside. The new LRV4 trains are quiet for the most part, the loudest thing you'll hear while riding them is the air rushing around the train as its moving. The new seats on the LRV4 aren't the most comfortable, but they were fine for a full trip on the N Judah (4th and King to 19th and Judah). I like the seating arrangement on the Bredas more, but I can understand MUNI prioritizing standing instead of seating for additional capacity, on the newer LRV4 trains.