Red Line (BART)

R  Red Line
Trains at Millbrae station in June 2018
Overview
Owner	San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Locale	East Bay and San Francisco Peninsula
Termini	Richmond Millbrae
Stations	24
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Bay Area Rapid Transit
History
Opened	April 19, 1976 (limited service) July 7, 1980 (all-day service)
Last extension	June 22, 2003
Technical
Line length	38.2 mi (61.5 km)
Track gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
Electrification	Third rail, 1 kV DC
Operating speed	70 mph (110 km/h)
Signalling	Bombardier CITYFLO 550 fixed block ATC/ATO between San Bruno or Milbrae and SFO
Route map Red Line Amtrak to Bakersfield/Seattle/Chicago Richmond Maintenance Yard Richmond Richmond Greenway I-80 El Cerrito del Norte El Cerrito Plaza Contra Costa County Alameda County North Berkeley Ohlone Greenway Downtown Berkeley SR 13 Ashby SR 24 ■ to Antioch MacArthur southbound transfer I-580 I-980 / SR 24 19th Street Oakland northbound transfer 12th Street Oakland City Center ■ ■ to Warm Springs/​South Fremont ■ to Dublin/​Pleasanton I-880 West Oakland Amtrak Transbay Tube Alameda County San Francisco I-80 Bay Bridge Embarcadero Montgomery Street Union Square/ Market Street Powell Street Civic Center/​UN Plaza 16th Street Mission 24th Street Mission Glen Park | San Jose/ Glen Park I-280 Balboa Park San Jose and Geneva San Francisco San Mateo County Daly City Colma Colma Maintenance Yard SR 82 El Camino Real South San Francisco Centennial Way Trail San Bruno transfer Caltrain to San Francisco US 101 San Francisco International Airport Millbrae Caltrain to Tamien & San Jose All stations are accessible

The Red Line is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line in the San Francisco Bay Area that runs between Richmond station and Millbrae station via San Francisco International Airport station. It has 24 stations in Richmond, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Daly City, Colma, South San Francisco, San Bruno, and Millbrae. The line shares tracks with the five other mainline BART services.

As of February 14, 2022, the line runs until 9 pm every day. At other times, service along the route is provided by the Orange and Yellow Lines, with timed cross-platform transfers at 19th Street Oakland and MacArthur stations.

Service history

The Red Line was the fourth of BART's five primary rapid transit lines to open. A few trains a day began running between Richmond and Daly City in April 1976, and all-day service began on July 7, 1980, after BART reduced train spacing through the Transbay Tube.

Citing increased ridership, BART extended weekday service on the line from 7pm to 8pm starting September 10, 2012. BART further extended service until 9pm on weekdays starting September 14, 2015.

SFO/Millbrae extension service

When the SFO/Millbrae extension opened on June 22, 2003, the Red Line continued to terminate at Daly City. BART extended the Red Line to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae during weekday peak hours on February 9, 2004. San Mateo County is not a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, so SamTrans funded the county's BART service. When the extension's lower-than-expected ridership caused SamTrans to accrue deficits, BART agreed to SamTrans' request to operate only the Blue Line south of Daly City effective September 12, 2005.

SamTrans and BART reached an agreement in February 2007 in which SamTrans would transfer control and financial responsibility of the SFO/Millbrae extension to BART, in return for BART receiving additional fixed funding from SamTrans and other sources.

Beginning March 22, 2021, Red Line trains were interlined with the Purple Line, while Saturday service was discontinued. On August 2, 2021, the Red Line began operating on weekdays and Saturdays until 9 pm, with all trains extended to SFO. On February 20, 2022, the line began operating on all days until 9 pm. On some Sundays between February 20 and September 12, 2022, when power cable replacement work took place in San Francisco, the Yellow Line ran to Millbrae all day to replace the Red Line.

On March 6, 2022, a break in a power cable near Berkeley caused Red Line service to be temporarily discontinued. On March 8, a shuttle service began operating between SFO and Millbrae. Red Line service resumed with 5-car trains on March 22. Normal 10-car trains resumed service in early May. A similar cable break near Richmond on June 17, 2022, resulted in two days of cancelled Red Line service. Limited Red Line service resumed on June 20, with Orange Line service reduced and supplemental SFO–Millbrae shuttle service added.

Effective September 11, 2023, Red Line trains will operate between Richmond and Millbrae via SFO.

Stations