San Diego unveils Sprinter rail service
$477M line travels 22 miles and serves 15 stations.
On Dec. 28, North County Transit District (NCTD) held a grand opening for the new Sprinter light rail, which will run through northern San Diego.
The inaugural train ride along the 22-mile east-west route included board members, NCTD employees, elected officials, Caltrans District 11 representatives, San Diego Association of Government representatives and other community leaders.
The first Sprinter train carried a load of more than 200 passengers and broke a banner at the Escondido Transit Center station. The 700 event attendees were also invited to ride the Sprinter. The event was underwritten by several sponsors, including Siemens, West Coast Rail Constructors and Simon Wong engineering.
The light rail service is scheduled to begin operations for the public in late January. Weekday trains will run every 30 minutes, with hourly service on the weekends.
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