VTA light rail service to resume full operations Saturday

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The entire VTA light rail system will be back on track beginning Saturday in the South Bay.

The Green Line, from the Diridon Station to the Winchester Station, is the last segment of the light rail system to be reactivated after a nearly four-month shutdown following a deadly mass shooting at the Guadalupe Light Rail Division facility May 26, said Stacey Hendler Ross, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

A portion of the Green Line -- from the Old Ironsides Station to the Diridon Station, began running trains Sept. 12. The Orange Line reopened Aug. 29, as did a portion of the Blue Line. The Blue Line fully reopened Sept. 4. 

With service resuming Saturday between Diridon and Winchester on the Green Line, VTA's entire light rail system is fully operational once again. 

Trains on the Blue Line, from the Baypointe Station to the Santa Teresa Station, will run from 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays every 20 minutes until 8 p.m., then trains will run every 30 to 45 minutes. 

The Green and Orange lines' schedules are from 5:30 a.m. until midnight on weekdays every 20 minutes, then 30-minute intervals after 8 p.m. until closing. 

"We know it's been a long haul," Hendler Ross said. "We thank our passengers for their patience and support as we emerge from an unspeakable tragedy. Our employees are still grieving, but most are glad to be back at working providing the service we know our community depends on."

Free fare for light rail service will continue through Sept. 30.

Work crews are still working to repair one of two crossing gates damaged by automobiles in August at the intersection of Moorpark and Race streets, near the Race Street Station. As an added precaution, Hendler Ross said light rail trains going through that intersection will stop and sound their horns before proceeding.