San Franscisco’s The Portal underground railway extension has received US$750m in funding from the California State Transportation Agency.
The 2.1km cut-and-cover and mined tunnel will extend Caltrain and California High Speed Rail into the existing train box beneath the Salesforce Transit Center in the heart of downtown San Francisco. It will provide direct connections to eight transit operators and the nearby Embarcadero BART station.
The route will have two new underground stations at Fourth and Townsend Streets.
The Portal – also known as the Downtown Rail Extension – is San Francisco’s highest-priority transit expansion project, a cornerstone of the California State Rail Plan, and a project of state and national significance.
The US$100m funding in Cycle 8 allows the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) to advance critical preconstruction work. The remaining US$650m will fund construction and help to capitalise on the US$3.38bn already committed through the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants programme.
Civil works and tunnel construction are scheduled to commence in 2028-2029 and the new line is expected to open for service in 2035. Once complete, it is estimated The Portal will be used by 90,000 passengers each day.
