San Francisco Muni train car testing to impact subway service

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Major upgrades for Muni in San Francisco will cause major headaches for commuters in the next month. The pain begins this weekend, when the San Francisco Marathon will also be taking place.

Warning signs at Muni stations got some attention on Friday as commuters started realizing that life on the transit system will be changing starting Saturday.

"I am worried about the evening routes especially on a Friday night," said one commuter.

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Weeknight Muni subway service will stop running at 9:30 p.m. And yes, that does include Friday nights. Additionally, starting this weekend there will be no Muni subway service on Saturdays and Sundays.

Some who work on the weekends feel caught off guard and worried.

"I need to take another bus, I don't know what bus I can take. I work weekends so I don't know," said Muni rider Santos Emederio, who noted he did not know about the changes.

Fellow Muni rider Diane Duque added, "On the weekends, that's gonna be a hassle too because we don't like driving on the weekends."

You can still get a ride, it just might be a bit slower.

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"Anything running from Embarcadero and West Portal will be done by a bus shuttle," said Muni spokesperson Paul Rose.

Muni is shutting down service so they can test new cars. They hope they'll be ready to hit the streets next month.

"What we are trying to do it test 'em for acceleration, for braking, and to see how they interact with our automatic train control system. Once we can determine this will work in our subway, we'll be able to run them in service so it'll be good for everybody," Rose said.

A bus bridge will be available for passengers and the subway will be open during the Outside Lands Festival, which is the second week in August, to accommodate the crowds coming into the city.

These Muni changes will be in effect for a month.

Click here for full details on the testing from Muni.