Historic Streetcars (Castro end of the line is located at the intersection of Castro, Market and 17th Streets) – The brightly painted vintage streetcars moving along Upper Market and 17th to stop at Castro Street are a daily reminder that public transit has long played an important part in this neighborhood. When the Castro Street segment of the Market Street Cable Railway was completed in 1887, the area then known as Eureka Valley still had farms and dairy cows on the hillsides. With downtown just minutes away by cable car, immigrant families poured in to build and buy the Victorian houses which still grace the neighborhood today. In 1914, the city began constructing at Castro and Market a streetcar tunnel to connect the western half of the city. By the time the Twin Peaks tunnel opened in 1917, bustling Castro Street had become known as "Little Downtown."

From the 1920s through the 40s, four side-by-side streetcar tracks ran up Market, from the Ferry Building to Castro Street. The noise from the streetcars clattering along them was referred to by locals as “The Roar of the Four.” The four tracks were reduced to two by the 1950s and plans were laid in the 1960s to upgrade Market Street by moving the streetcar tracks underground. The Muni’s light rail subway was completed in the early 1980s and it appeared that streetcar rails would soon disappear from Market Street.

Before that happened, a Historic Trolley Festival was held during the summer of 1983, with old street cars from around the world running up Market to Duboce Street and back. The festival was slated to be a temporary stand-in while the city’s beloved but aging cable car system was shut down for an 18 month overhaul. However, it proved so popular with both tourists and locals, who enjoyed commuting on the classic streetcars, that the festival was extended for five summers and the city approved a permanent F-Line, to run up Market Street to Castro.

In 1995, the new F-Line officially opened, and in 2000, the city completed an extension of the line, running it from Market to Fisherman’s Wharf. Drawing 20,000 plus riders per day, the F-Line is the most successful vintage rail line ever opened. For a description of sights along the F-Line route, a history of the streetcars and more, see http://www.streetcar.org/mim/streetcars/index.html

Public Transportation

The Castro/Upper Market neighborhood is accessible by:

• Muni Metro (Underground) - MUNI Metro lines K, L, & M
• Streetcar – F Market streetcar line
• Bus Lines – MUNI bus numbers 33, 35, 37 and 24
• BART – BART does not go directly to the Castro/Upper Market so riders need to transfer to MUNI Metro or streetcar at these stations: Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, or Civic Center.