SAN JOSE — Three months after a deadly mass shooting at the VTA, light rail service is slowly coming back online, with test runs this week and hopes that trains will be ready to take passengers to Sunday’s 49ers-Raiders game at Levi’s Stadium.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has delayed its reopening once already, pushing deadlines as its traumatized workers ready themselves to return to work and dormant equipment is checked for safety. More than 300 employees fled the Guadalupe rail yard the morning of May 26 when a disgruntled mechanic opened fire and killed nine coworkers in two buildings.
“I don’t think the average person can grasp the kind of fear that was present that day,” Carolyn Gonot, VTA’s new CEO and general manager told reporters Tuesday. “That’s why we have taken the time in a very deliberate trauma-informed approach in having our employees come back.”
Counseling has been offered to all the workers, many of whom started their first days early this month at different work sites — away from the main rail yard near First and Hedding streets in San Jose that could trigger post traumatic stress. For weeks, the transportation hub was cordoned off as a crime scene.
Test runs without passengers are operating this week from the Guadalupe yard to Baypointe Station in North San Jose along North First Street and other routes. Light rail service could resume by Saturday, said Stacey Hendler Ross, a VTA spokeswoman.
VTA officials caution people to stop, look and listen for oncoming trains.
“Not having trains running for the past three months may have led bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists to let their guard down around tracks,” VTA said in a statement. “We urge the public to keep an eye out for trains and maintenance vehicles on the tracks.”
Until train passengers are allowed to hop aboard later this week, VTA is offering substitute bus service along First Street in San Jose, from the Paseo de San Antonio Station to Baypointe Station, then to the Milpitas Transit Center along Tasman Drive, serving all the light-rail stations along the way. This service will operate every 30 minutes on weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and hourly on weekends from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
As part of this temporary bus solution, fares won’t be collected until light rail service has been restored. The agency had hoped to resume rail service by the opening day of fall quarter at San Jose State last week, but is running buses there until the trains are ready.
At the same time, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation of the shooting and the VTA has hired an independent investigator to determine what led to the tragedy and how to prevent another one. Sam Cassidy, a 20-year veteran of the agency, had a history of run-ins with fellow workers and management. One coworker had expressed months earlier that if anyone would “go postal” it would be him. Cassidy gunned down his coworkers with a pair of automatic hand guns before killing himself.
Lawmakers in Sacramento this summer allocated $20 million to help get the agency restarted. The money targets grief counseling, staff training, safety upgrades, facility repairs, and relocations. Agency officials are hoping to tap into more state and federal infrastructure spending to replace the operations center where the tragedy took place, something that could cost at least $85 million.
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