Blue Line (VTA)
| Company type | Light rail corridor |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | December 11, 1987 |
| Headquarters | San Jose , United States |
Area served | San Jose, California |
| Products | Light rail transit service |
| Owner | Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) |
The Blue Line is a light rail corridor within Santa Clara County, California, managed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). It operates exclusively inside San Jose, California, connecting 26 stations between Baypointe and Santa Teresa. Notable stops provide access to San Jose International Airport (via bus), Downtown San Jose, San Jose State University, and the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. The line also offers a transfer point to Caltrain at Tamien. Among VTA's three light rail routes—which include the Green Line and Orange Line—the Blue Line is the longest, stretching .
Route description
Starting at Santa Teresa station in South San Jose, the Blue Line heads northward, initially running through the median of California State Route 85. It then makes a sharp turn near the junction with California State Route 87 to reach Ohlone/Chynoweth station. Continuing along the median of State Route 87, it departs just beyond the interchange with I-280 to serve the Children's Discovery Museum station. The Blue Line shares its tracks with the Green Line along 1st Street through downtown and North San Jose, before diverging at Tasman station to merge with the Orange Line en route to Baypointe. The entire journey takes approximately 55 minutes.
Historically, the Blue Line extended past Baypointe to Alum Rock. However, since the implementation of the 2019 New Transit service plan, service east of Baypointe has been transferred to the Orange Line.
Construction history
The Blue Line largely traces VTA’s original Guadalupe line, which was inaugurated in stages from December 11, 1987, through April 25, 1991.
The initial segment opened on December 11, 1987, covering of track between Old Ironsides station, near California's Great America, and a temporary Civic Center stop at First and Younger streets adjacent to VTA’s Guadalupe Division maintenance facility. While this stretch between Old Ironsides and Tasman station is no longer served by Blue Line trains, it remains active for Green Line operations.
Approximately six months later, on June 17, 1988, the second segment launched, adding from the Younger Street yard junction northwards to a permanent Civic Center station and further south to Convention Center station. This phase introduced a downtown transit mall that integrated train tracks into sidewalks and narrowed nearby streets to prioritize bus traffic. Although this design improved transfer options, it required trains to reduce speed to an average of due to close pedestrian activity.
The third phase opened on August 17, 1990, extending by following primarily along the median of State Route 87 (the Guadalupe Freeway). This freeway was constructed with a broad center median specifically designed to accommodate stations for the rail line.
The final extension became operational on April 25, 1991, adding in the median of State Route 87 until near State Route 85. At this point, tracks briefly exit the freeway median to serve Ohlone/Chynoweth station, before continuing within the median of State Route 85 toward Santa Teresa station in South San Jose. This segment was developed simultaneously with State Route 85, which was engineered from inception to support light rail infrastructure prior to vehicle traffic commencement.
This concluding stage also incorporated a spur line reaching into the Almaden Valley, utilized by the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line until its service ended in December 2019 due to insufficient ridership.
Commuter Express light rail
The Commuter Express light rail service was introduced by VTA on October 4, 2010, running between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations. This service provided three northbound trips to Baypointe each morning and three southbound trips to Santa Teresa in the afternoon. It stopped at all stations except for a non-stop segment between Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth. Passengers enjoyed complimentary WiFi and an estimated travel time reduction of six to eight minutes. Despite these benefits, the service attracted only about 530 daily riders out of the over 20,000 passengers on the line. Due to insufficient patronage, the VTA board decided to terminate the Commuter Express in October 2018.
Station stops
| Station | Connections and notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Baypointe (Northern terminus) |
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| Tasman |
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| River Oaks |
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| Orchard |
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| Bonaventura | Template:Ric | |
| Component | Template:Ric | |
| Karina | Template:Ric | |
| Metro/Airport |
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| Gish | Template:Ric | |
| Civic Center |
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| Japantown/Ayer | Template:Ric | |
| Saint James |
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| Santa Clara |
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| Paseo de San Antonio |
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| Convention Center |
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| Children's Discovery Museum station | VTA Bus: 23 | |
| Virginia | ||
| Tamien station |
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| Curtner station |
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| Capitol |
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| Branham station | ||
| Ohlone/Chynoweth station |
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| Blossom Hill |
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| Snell station |
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| Cottle station |
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| Santa Teresa (Southern terminus) |
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