San Diego MTS looking at adding new 'Copper Line' to Trolley system

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is eyeing a new Trolley alignment for its East County service.

The "Copper Line" was recently proposed by MTS to solve longstanding issues of reliability with the train system, zeroing in on one stretch of track on the outermost edges of its network that the transit agency says has frequently been the source of delays.

The issue is between the Gillespie Airport and Santee stops on the Green and Orange lines, where only one track exists for both directions of travel.

The single track, paired with traffic signals, means trains are often waiting for each other to pass, causing holdups for riders. To reduce the impact of these delays, MTS says lines often run a truncated service in the area, making unplanned turn-arounds before reaching Santee.

The proposed Copper Line, MTS says, would fix these issues by shuttling passengers between Santee and El Cajon. Instead, the Orange and Green lines would stop at the El Cajon Transit Center, eliminating the need for those trains to use that stretch of track.

According to MTS, the Copper Line would also allow the Green Line to extend its service hours at night and open up its ability to run past the SDSU Transit Center on Sundays.

On top of that, MTS officials say the Copper Line would have an added benefit for Santee drivers: As it would be a one-train connection instead of the typical three cars, the line would ease traffic at the Mission Gorge Road and Cuyamaca Street rail intersections on the route to Santee.

A map of the proposed change to MTS' Trolley service can be found below.

The MTS Board of Directors is scheduled to hear a presentation on the adjustment at its June 20 meeting. Public comment will be available during the board's discussion of the proposal.

MTS is asking for anyone who would like to comment on the proposed change but are unable to attend the June 20 meeting to submit their thoughts online before June 19. MTS officials will also be at transit stations along the route to get in-person comment over the next few weeks.

If approved, service using the Copper Line would start on Sept. 1, running every 15 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight.