Montgomery Street station (often calledMontgomery station) is a combinedBART andMuni Metrorapid transit subway station in theMarket Street subway in downtownSan Francisco. Located underMarket Street betweenMontgomery Street and Sansome Street, it serves theFinancial District neighborhood and surrounding areas. The three-level station has a large fare mezzanine level, with separate platform levels for Muni Metro and BART below. Montgomery Street andEmbarcadero station to the north are typically the two busiest stations in the BART system.
Like the three other shared Muni/BART stations in the Market Street subway, Montgomery has three underground levels. The first level is a fare mezzanine, with two Muni paid areas and two BART paid areas. The second level has a singleisland platform for Muni Metro, and the third level has an island platform for BART.[5] The station has seven street entrances along its length, plus underground entrances to theOne Sansome Street and44 Montgomery buildings.[5] Montgomery and nearbyPowell, both designed bySkidmore, Owings & Merrill, have similar designs – including distinctive domed hexagonal "bubble tiles" on the mezzanine level.[6]
Portion of the mezzanine temporarily closed for construction of a BART substation
The BART Board approved the name "Montgomery Street" in December 1965.[7] The under-construction station was featured in the 1971 filmThe Organization.[8][9] BART service at the station began on November 5, 1973, followed by Muni Metro service on February 18, 1980.[2][3] Prior to theCOVID-19 pandemic, some morning rush-hour trains on theAntioch lineshort turned at Montgomery to provide additional Transbay service. From February 16, 2020, to September 20, 2020, and again from March 22, 2021, to August 1, 2021,Dublin/Pleasanton line trains terminated at Montgomery on some Sundays due to single-tracking in the Market Street Subway.[10][11]
Following the 2015 addition of a canopy over an escalator at19th Street Oakland station, which reduced escalator downtime by one-third, BART decided to add canopies to all downtown Oakland and San Francisco entrances.[12] Construction of the Market Street entrances at Montgomery station began in February 2021, with the New Montgomery Street entrance closed on January 3, 2022.[13][14] The entrance was completed on April 17, 2023, at which time the Montgomery Street/Post Street entrance was closed for construction.[15][16] The Sutter Street entrance closed on October 18, 2023, after the Post Street entrance was finished.[17] The Sutter Street entrance reopened May 30, 2024; the Sansome Street entrance then closed until November 2024.[18][19][20] The completion of all entrances is expected in 2027.[21]
The entrances on the southern side of the station were closed from April 13, 2020, to May 15, 2021, due to low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] Thirteen BART stations, including Montgomery, did not originally have faregates for passengers using the elevator. In 2020, BART started a project to add faregates to elevators at these stations. The new faregate on the BART platform at Montgomery was installed in December 2020.[23] Installation of second-generation BART faregates took place in October and November 2024.[24]
On September 13, 2021, the center portion of the mezzanine level and the southern entrance east of 2nd Street were closed for construction of a BART traction power substation. The entrance and mezzanine passage were expected to reopen in 2023.[25] Bathrooms at underground BART stations were closed after theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001 due to security concerns. The bathroom at Montgomery station reopened on June 28, 2022, after a renovation, with an attendant on duty during all operating hours.[26] Under the plannedBetter Market Street project, the inbound F stop would be discontinued to reduce travel times.[27]
F Market and Wharves streetcar at Market and 2nd Street
Muni'sF Market and Wharves heritage streetcar line stops on the surface atMarket and 2nd Street (outbound) andMarket and New Montgomery (inbound). The station is also served by a number of Muni bus and trolleybus routes:[28]
AC Transit serves Montgomery Street station with the 800All Nighter route during hours that BART is not operating.[28]
Additional Muni (14,14R,14X),Golden Gate Transit (30, 70, 101, 101X), andSamTrans (292,397, 398, FCX) bus routes run on Mission Street, one block away. TheSalesforce Transit Center, located about1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) to the east, is the primary San Francisco terminal forAC Transit transbay routes,WestCAT,Greyhound lines, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach buses, some Golden Gate Transit routes, and Muni route25.[28]
^Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007).An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502.ISBN978-1-58685-432-4.OCLC85623396.
