SacRT to Temporarily Close 59th Street Station to Prepare for New Low-Floor Trains
Six Gold Line Light Rail Stations will be Impacted the Weekend of February 4 – 5, 2023
The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) is beginning construction on station modifications to meet the requirements of its modern new low-floor light rail trains. The first station closure will be at 59th Street Station during the weekend of February 4 -5, 2023. The station closure will impact Gold Line light rail service and a bus bridge (buses travel between stations) will be in place between 29th Street and Power Inn stations in both directions during the closure.
Normal light rail service will resume on Monday, February 6, 2023. Construction crews will continue work on the 59th Street Station modification until Friday, March 3, 2023. However, the work is not expected to impact light rail service or the 59th Street Station. During construction, the Fare Vending Machines and Connect Card Readers will not be available at the 59th Street Station, so riders will need to use a different station if they need to purchase fare.
“This is the beginning of a comprehensive effort to make our entire light rail system more modern, efficient and attractive to riders,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “We apologize for the temporary inconvenience as we renovate our stations; however, this is SacRT’s first step in accelerating our light rail modernization project, which will greatly improve the customer experience for all.”
“Once the new low-floor cars start rolling, I think people will flock to ride light rail,” said SacRT Board Chair Patrick Kennedy. “There will be some inconveniences during construction, as there always are in capital improvement projects. Overall, the public will be supportive.”
The 59th Street Station is the first light rail station that will be modified for the use of the new low-floor light rail vehicles. After this station is successfully completed, additional stations will be temporarily closed in phases. Riders will be notified about upcoming service disruptions in advance. To stay informed of light rail service disruptions, download the free Alert SacRT app from the App Store or Google Play.
The station modifications are one part of the Light Rail Modernization Project, which also include adding a passing track to provide 15-minute service to Folsom area stations and the purchase of new low-floor light rail vehicles.
For more details on the closure including bus bridge details, visit sacrt.com/stationclosure.
The first new low-floor light rail train, which was built at Siemens Mobility in south Sacramento is schedule to be delivered in February 2023, which is the first of 28 trains that Siemens is currently building for SacRT. The contract with Siemens includes options for the purchase of up to 76 light rail vehicles. This first low-floor train is now going through a rigorous testing process before it can be put into revenue service with passengers onboard. SacRT expects to have the station conversions and low-floor trains ready for service by summer 2024. Learn more about the testing process here: https://www.sacrt.com/lr-modernization-2/
More information on the Light Rail Modernization Project is available at www.sacrt.com/modernization.