VTA restoring limited light rail service Thursday
Trains cleaned after worker tested positive for virus, agency says
VTA will bring back its light rail service Thursday, two weeks after the agency shut down its trains when an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.
The South Bay transit agency abruptly suspended its threeline light rail system on the night of March 25, when officials learned that an operator trainee had a confirmed case of the virus.
The operator trainee was one of two VTA employees who have tested positive for the virus, a spokesman said. The other is an administrative worker; VTA has not provided an update on the conditions of either employee.
Since the operator trainee’s case was discovered, VTA says it has deep cleaned all of the light rail vehicles and will run them on a reduced schedule.
Starting Thursday, light rail trains will arrive at stations every 30 minutes, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays only.
“Our goal is always to provide the essential transit service that people need,” VTA spokesman Ken Blackstone said. “Trains are cleaned and we feel it is important to get back to providing a modified level of service for the riders who still depend upon public transportation.”
The move to resume service bucks a trend of cuts from Bay Area public transit agencies three weeks into shelterin-place orders that have kept millions home from work and school. BART, Muni, Caltrain and VTA’s bus system have reduced service over the past three weeks in response to massive ridership drops.
VTA this week cut back its bus service further.
The agency announced Monday that line 22, the route that normally runs 24 hours a day, will now stop at 9 p.m., like most of the rest of VTA’s buses. The agency also has changed the schedules for lines 89 and 181 to match service cuts from Caltrain and BART, whose stations those lines serve; the 181 is still timed to meet the last train at the Warm Springs station each night.
VTA is not collecting fares for any bus or light rail trips.