The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Copper Line East County Connector, which replaces San Diego Trolley Green and Orange Line service north of El Cajon Transit Center, entered revenue service Sept. 29. The new service includes four station stops—El Cajon Transit Center, Arnele Trolley Station, Gillespie Field and Santee Trolley Station—operating on 15-minute headways from 5:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Riders transfer to and from Copper Line trains at El Cajon Transit Center, where the Green and Orange Lines now terminate.
“The Copper Line’s primary purpose is reducing the impacts of the single-track segment between Gillespie Field and Santee,” MTS said. “This segment can create a ripple effect of delays and missed transfers for riders coming in and out of East County, as only one train can enter or exit this segment at a time. With the Copper Line segment, trains will now turn at El Cajon Transit Center rather than Santee and alleviate the system from this bottleneck. In turn, this will improve service reliability between El Cajon and Santee, preventing trips from turning around at Gillespie Field on an unscheduled basis. In addition, delays that may occur on the rest of the system will no longer impact service between the two cities. Overall, on-time performance should improve, meaning riders have more reliable transfer times and fewer delays.”
Green Line frequency will be increased to East County later at night, and all Sunday trips will terminate at El Cajon Transit Center instead of alternating trains stopping short at the SDSU Transit Center. MTS will operate one- or two-car trains on the Copper Line, rather than three-car trains. This is expected to reduce wait times and lessen traffic at the Mission Gorge Road and Cuyamaca Street intersection. Instead of operating with shorter trains, the Copper Line should reduce the wait times and lessen traffic at Santee intersections along Cuyamaca Street.
MTS estimated that approximately 8% of Green Line passengers will transfer to and from the Copper Line once the Trolley reconfiguration in East County is implemented this fall. “The remaining 92% should see improved reliability,” the agency said.
