Conference attendees can take Red Line from Qualcomm Stadium to Convention Center
San Diego – As fans descend on the Convention Center next week to celebrate pop culture present and past at Comic Con, the Metropolitan Transit System is there to make traveling downtown cheap and hassle free. MTS will be offering frequent Special Event red line service from Qualcomm Stadium to the Convention Center.
Passengers can park for free at Qualcomm Stadium and avoid the traffic and high parking fees in Downtown by the Convention Center. MTS encourages convention goers to take advantage of the MTS day pass and multiple-day passes. A one-day pass is $5, a two-day pass is $9, a three-day pass is $12 and a four-day pass is $15. Day Passes are available at all Trolley station ticket vending machines and at select locations with ticket sales booths.
Most locations now accept debit/credit cards as well.
Expanded service will be the following for the days of Comic Con:
Wednesday, July 22: For preview night, 15-minute Red Line service to the Convention Center from Qualcomm will run from 5:17p.m. until 7:47p.m. The first outbound Special Event ‘Red Line’ train will depart Gaslamp Quarter station at 7:13 p.m. with the last trip scheduled to depart at 9:58 p.m.
Thursday, July 23 and Friday July 24: Red Line service will operate every 15 minutes from Qualcomm Stadium to the Convention Center from 8:20 a.m. until 1:47 p.m. After 1:47 p.m., inbound ‘Red Line’ service will operate every 30 minutes. Outbound Red Line trains will depart Gaslamp Quarter station every 15 minutes beginning at 9:18 a.m. until 3:03 p.m., and then every 30 minutes until 5:32 p.m. Then, Red Line service will resume 15-minutes frequency until 9:30p.m.; then every 30 minutes until 12:30 a.m. Enhanced service will be operating on the Orange and Blue Lines, continuing every 15 minutes until 9:45pm.
Saturday, July 25:
Green Line trains will operate expanded service, running beyond the normal terminus at Old Town, to the Convention Center area. This service will operate every 15 minutes and start at 6:53 a.m. from Santee, arriving at 7:25 a.m. to Qualcomm Stadium and at 7:54 a.m. to the Convention Center. Outbound Green Line service will continue every 15 minutes until 9:40 p.m., then every 30 minutes until 1:55 a.m.
Inbound Orange Line will begin 15-minute service earlier than normal, at 7:52 a.m. from Gillespie Field. Outbound Orange Line service will continue every 15 minutes until 9:45 p.m. then every 30 minutes (normal timetable) until 12:15 a.m.
Blue Line service toward Chula Vista and San Ysidro will continue every 15 minutes until 9:38 p.m. then every 30 minutes (normal timetable) until 12:08 a.m. Blue Line service toward Old Town will continue every 15 minutes until 9:31 p.m. then every 30 minutes until 1:31 a.m.
Sunday, July 26:
Green Line will operate expanded service from Santee to the Convention Center area beginning at 6:53 a.m. Green Line trains will operate expanded service to the Convention Center area every 15 minutes throughout the event. Outbound Green Line service will continue every 15 minutes until 5:40 p.m. and then resume a normal timetable.
Orange Line will begin 15-minute service at 7:52 a.m. from Gillespie Field and continue 15-minute frequency until 9:30 p.m.
Blue Line will begin 15-minute service at 7:59 a.m. from San Ysidro. This frequency will continue until 9:30 p.m.
Visit www.sdmts.com/Trolley/ComicCon.asp for more detailed information about service to Comic Con 2009.
MTS operates a 54.3-mile light rail transit network, 89 fixed bus routes, and ADA Complementary Public Paratransit Service in the San Diego region. In FY08 it set a system record by carrying more than 87 million passengers and MTS is poised to carry 92 million passengers this year.
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