VTA light rail

The VTA light rail system serves San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and has 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of network comprising three main lines on standard gauge tracks. Originally opened on December 11, 1987, the light rail system has expanded since then, and currently has 60 stations in operation.

The light rail system has been criticized for being one of the least used in the United States (an average of 344 boardings per mile as of the fourth quarter of 2025) and the most heavily subsidized ($9.30 per passenger trip). VTA leaders have admitted that building light rail was a poor match with adjoining land uses. The system's average weekday daily ridership as of the fourth quarter of 2025 is 14,500 passengers and saw a total of 4,469,300 trips in 2025.

VTA operates 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of light rail route on 3 lines. All the lines and the corridors they run through are designed to move passengers from the suburban areas of Santa Clara Valley into the major business areas in Downtown, the Santa Clara County Civic Center, and northern Silicon Valley, site of many high-tech company offices.

Light Rail also serves to connect travelers to other transportation systems at several key points: Diridon station offers connections to Caltrain, ACE, Amtrak's Coast Starlight, the Capitol Corridor trains; Milpitas station offers a connection to the BART system; and Metro/Airport station offers a connection to the San Jose International Airport via VTA Bus route 60.

The system is mostly double-tracked with overhead catenary wires. It variously runs along the medians of former railroad rights of way, freeways and surface streets, and pedestrian malls.

The Almaden shuttle was a 3-stop spur from the Ohlone/Chynoweth station to Almaden station at the Almaden Expressway in the Almaden Valley. The shuttle, which ran a single 1-car train, took about 4 minutes to travel between Ohlone/Chynoweth and Almaden. This line had one track, with sidings at Almaden and Ohlone/Chynoweth. The line was discontinued in December 2019 and replaced by bus service.

The Commuter Express service operated along the same route as the current Blue Line between Baypointe and Santa Teresa stations, with nonstop service between Convention Center and Ohlone/Chynoweth stations. This weekday, peak-period service offered three trips in the morning and three trips in the evening. The service was introduced in October 2010 and was eliminated in August 2018 because of low ridership.

Sometimes, in the winter, VTA operates a seasonal vintage trolley service called the Holly Trolley. This trolley, a joint project of the VTA and the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation, began operations in December 2012. As of December 2018, it operated between Civic Center and the San Jose Caltrain stations. However, for the 2019 season, it only operated between Civic Center and Convention Center station (VTA) stations.