The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency first broke ground on the Central Subway in 2010 and received nearly $1 billion in federal funding to complete the project, with an original opening date scheduled for late 2018.
However, a series of delays, including a fire earlier this year at one of the subway's stations, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, pushed that timeline back roughly four years.
SFMTA Transportation Director Jeffrey Tumlin told the agency's Board of Directors Tuesday that he had been waiting years to give the official opening date for public service: Nov. 19.
Muni will initially run a free, weekends-only rail shuttle through the Central Subway between the Fourth and Brannon streets and Chinatown-Rose Pak stations, according to Tumlin.
The soft opening will help the agency ensure that staff are fully trained for daily operations of the subway.
Tumlin said Muni plans to open the Central Subway to full service in January to coincide with the Chinese Lunar New Year.
The Central Subway will run perpendicular to Muni's existing main subway line that is aligned with BART's downtown stations and will modify the current route of the T-Third Street Muni line.
