Blue Line (VTA)


The Blue Line, formerly the Alum Rock-Santa Teresa line, is a light rail route operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The Blue Line is one of three lines in the VTA Light Rail system; the other two are the Green Line and the Orange Line.

Route description

From north to south, the Blue Line starts at Baypointe station in North San Jose, travels south on First Street, through downtown San Jose, until reaching the San Jose Convention Center where the line enters the median of State Route 87, until it approaches the interchange with State Route 85, where it briefly exits the median to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station and enters the median of State Route 85 to its terminus at the Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. The route is approximately long and takes approximately 55 minutes for the entire trip.

Construction history

The Blue Line largely follows the path of VTA'a original Guadalupe line that opened in phases between December 11, 1987 and April 25, 1991.
The first section of the Guadalupe line opened on December 11, 1987, with 7.4 miles of track allowing trains to operate between Old Ironsides station, located near the California's Great America theme park, and a temporary station at First and Younger, near the junction of the branch running west on Younger to VTA's Guadalupe Division, the maintenance and storage yard for trains. The section of track between Old Ironsides station and Tasman station is no longer served by Blue Line trains, but is still used by the Green Line.
The second section of the Guadalupe line opened on June 17, 1988, with 2.3 miles of track running from the Younger Street yard junction and Civic Center station in the north to Convention Center station in the south. This section also included a transit mall in downtown San Jose, where train tracks were laid into wide sidewalks, with nearby 1st Street and 2nd Street being narrowed down and having one lane dedicated to buses. The design allowed easy transfers between trains and buses, but because there is no clear delineation between the sidewalk and the track, pedestrians often unintentionally walk in front of trains, forcing VTA to slow trains to just 7.5 mph.
The third section of the Guadalupe line opened on August 17, 1990, with 1.7 miles of track running from Convention Center station to Tamien station, mostly in the median of State Route 87, the Guadalupe Freeway, after which the line was named, itself named after the nearby Guadalupe River. The freeway was built in the 1980s to accommodate the rail line with a large center median and provisions for stations.
The fourth and final section of the Guadalupe line opened on April 25, 1991, with 9.7 miles of track, continuing down the median of State Route 87 until it approaches the interchange State Route 85, where the tracks briefly exit the median to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station. After stopping at Ohlone/Chynoweth station, Blue Line trains enter the median of State Route 85 to continue on to Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. State Route 85 was also built to accommodate the light rail line, and had not opened to vehicle traffic when trains started running. The final section of the Guadalupe line also included a spur track to the Almaden Valley, that was served by the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line until December 2019, when it was eliminated due to low ridership.

Commuter Express light rail

On October 4, 2010, the VTA introduced a Commuter Express light rail service on this line, which operated between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations. The service operated three trips in the morning and three trips in the afternoon that called at all stops, except for nonstop operation between the Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth stations. It offered free WiFi access on all trains on this service, and promised time savings of six to eight minutes. The Commuter Express service accounted for a small fraction of total Alum Rock – Santa Teresa service, and the Board of Directors voted to discontinue the Commuter Express effective October 2018.

Station stops

StationTransfer to
Baypointe
  • VTA Bus: 59
Tasman
    • River Oaks
    • Orchard
  • VTA Bus: 20
    • Bonaventura
    • Component
    • Karina
    • Metro/Airport
  • VTA Bus: 60
    • Gish
    • Civic Center
  • VTA Bus: 61, 181
    • Japantown/Ayer
    • Saint James
  • VTA Bus: 72, 73, 181
    • Santa Clara
  • Highway 17 Express
  • Monterey-Salinas Transit: 55, 79
  • VTA Bus: 22, 23, 64A, 64B, 66, 68, 72, 73, 168, 181, 500, 522, 523
    • Paseo de San Antonio
  • VTA Bus: DASH, 23, 66, 68, 168, 523
    • Convention Center
  • VTA Bus: 23, 168, 523
    • Children's Discovery Museum
  • VTA Bus: 23
    • Virginia
    Tamien
  • Caltrain
  • VTA Bus: 25, 56
    • Curtner
  • VTA Bus: 26
    • Capitol
  • VTA Bus: 37, 71
    • Branham
    Ohlone/Chynoweth
  • VTA Bus: 64A, 83, 102
    • Blossom Hill
  • VTA Bus: 27
    • Snell
  • VTA Bus: 66, 102, 122
    • Cottle
  • VTA Bus: IBM shuttle, 27, 68
    • Santa Teresa
  • Monterey-Salinas Transit: 79
  • VTA Bus: Hitachi shuttle, IBM shuttle, 42, 68, 102, 122, 182
    • ;Notes

    Station facilities

    Many stops along this line have park-and-ride facilities for its passengers, as well as bike stations, including: