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{{Short description|Discontinued light rail line in San Jose, California}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width                       = 290px
| name                            = Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden
| color                           = {{rcr|SCVTA|Purple}}
| logo                            = VTA light rail Ohlone-Chynoweth–Almaden line logo.svg
| logo_width                      = 125px
| image                           = 
| image_width                     = 
| caption                         = 
| type                            = [[Light rail]]
| system                          = [[VTA light rail]]
| locale                          = [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara County]], [[California]]<br>'''Cities:''' [[San Jose, California|San Jose]]
| start                           = {{stn|Ohlone/Chynoweth}}
| end                             = {{stn|Almaden}}
| stations                        = 3
| routes                          = 
| daily_ridership                 = 
| open                            = April 25, 1991
| close                           = December 27, 2019
| owner                           = 
| operator                        = [[Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority]]
| character                       = at-grade
| stock                           = 99 [[Kinki Sharyo]] light rail vehicles<br>(low floor)
| linelength                      = {{convert|1.25|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}<ref name="PTJ-1991apr">{{cite news |last=Warner |first=David C. |title=San Jose: Guadalupe Corridor Line Completed |magazine=[[Passenger Train Journal]] |date=April 1991 |pages=32–38 |issn=0160-6913}}</ref>
| tracklength                     = 
| tracks                          = 1 (except at the two terminals)
| gauge                           = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| electrification                 = {{750 V DC|conductor=overhead}}
| speed                           = 
| map                             = {{switcher
|{{maplink-road|from=Purple Line (VTA).map}} Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden highlighted in purple <hr />
|Show interactive map
|{{Purple Line (VTA)|inline=yes}}
|Show route diagram
}}
}}

'''Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden''' (commonly known as the '''Almaden Shuttle''') was a short light rail route operated by [[Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority]] (VTA) in southern [[San Jose, California]], United States, with three stops. Service into the [[Almaden Valley]] was also provided by [https://web.archive.org/web/20070104044211/http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_13.html VTA bus route 13], which also entirely duplicates the light rail service. VTA proposed to end service on the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line in late 2019,<ref name="Draft 2019">{{cite web|title=Proposed Light Rail Routes|work=Draft 2019 New Transit Service Plan|publisher=Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority|access-date=March 4, 2019|url=http://newtransitplan.vta.org/proposed-light-rail-routes}}</ref> and officially announced plans to terminate service on the line and replace it with bus 64a on December 28, 2019.<ref name="Dec 2019">{{cite web |author=<!-- Staff report --> |url=https://morganhilltimes.com/vta-makes-commuter-changes/ |title=VTA makes commuter changes |work=Morgan Hill Times |date=December 27, 2019 |access-date=April 10, 2021 |quote=The light rail segment from Ohlone/Chynoweth to Oakridge will be discontinued and will now be served by Route 64a.}}</ref><ref name="2019 changes">{{cite web|url=https://newservice.vta.org/changes|title=How Is My Route Changing? – Find out how your service changed December 28|access-date=November 26, 2019|quote=The Almaden Spur from Ohlone/Chynoweth Station to Almaden Station has been replaced by Route 64A.}}</ref>

On VTA maps, this line was colored purple, but VTA personnel does not call it the '''Purple Line''', much less refer to it as the '''Line 900''' on official documents.<ref name="LRT map">{{cite web|title=Light Rail Map|publisher=Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority|access-date=March 4, 2019|url=http://www.vta.org/getting-around/interactive-light-rail-map}}</ref> The system's other two lines at the time were the [[Alum Rock–Santa Teresa (VTA)|Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line]] and the [[Mountain View–Winchester (VTA)|Mountain View–Winchester line]]. Twice per day, a train from the Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line would throughrun from the VTA yards south of [[Gish (VTA)|Gish station]] to serve the Almaden Shuttle. The train arrived from the yards early in the morning and left for the yards again after the last Almaden Shuttle run of the evening.

==History==
The entire Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line was constructed at the same time as the original Guadalupe line; both lines opened for revenue service in 1991.  The line is a branch off of the main line but was served mainly by a shuttle service, known as the Almaden Shuttle, with a few [[through train]]s to/from downtown and points beyond in [[rush hour]] only. The few through trips were discontinued in January 1993.<ref name="LRMT-1993dec">{{cite news|title=World News [regular news section]|date=December 1993|magazine=[[Light Rail and Modern Tramway]]|page=329|publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing]]|location=UK|issn=0964-9255}}</ref> The line is {{convert|1.25|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} long and is [[single-track railway|single-track]] except at its two terminals.<ref name="PTJ-1991apr"/><ref name=TNERJ-1997sum>{{cite magazine |last=Wolinsky |first=Julian |title=San Jose: Silicon Valley LRT |date=Summer 1997 |issue=36 |magazine=[[The New Electric Railway Journal]] |pages=31–37 |issn=1048-3845}}</ref>

Once the line begins to parallel Winfield Boulevard, the Almaden line runs on the right-of-way of an abandoned branch of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]].  This branch (known as the [[James Lick|Lick]] Branch) once served the quicksilver mining area of New Almaden, located south of San Jose.  In later years, it ended at the current site of the Almaden Light Rail Station and served a lumber yard.  The freight railroad was abandoned in 1981.

[[File:UTDC-built LRV 832 laying over at Almaden on the Almaden Shuttle service - San Jose, CA (1993).jpg|thumb|left|A light rail car laying over at the outer end of the line in 1993]]
Ridership on the Almaden Shuttle was notoriously poor. The Almaden Shuttle was proposed for cancellation in 2003 and 2004 as part of massive agency-wide service cuts as a result of the [[dot-com bubble|dot-com bust]], especially considering that for many Almaden Valley residents who choose transit, VTA's number 13 bus duplicated the Almaden Shuttle's service (providing service to downtown San Jose via the [[Alum Rock–Santa Teresa (VTA)|Alum Rock–Santa Teresa line]] with only one transfer).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vta.org/inside/boards/committee_advisory/cac/agendas_minutes/2003/08_aug/9.doc |title=Board Memorandum: January 2004 Transit Service Reduction Plan |date=July 30, 2003 |publisher=Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority |archive-date=2 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040502112757/http://www.vta.org/inside/boards/committee_advisory/cac/agendas_minutes/2003/08_aug/9.doc |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vta.org/news/2004_revised_proposed_jan.html |title=VTA January 2004 Transit Service Reduction Plan revised August 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030811174834/http://www.vta.org/news/2004_revised_proposed_jan.html |publisher=Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority |archive-date=11 August 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref> If the Almaden Shuttle were canceled, it would have been the first federally funded light rail line built after 1980 ever to cease service.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.narprail.org/h0305.htm |title=Hotline #294 |date=May 9, 2003 |publisher=Narprail |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030708102814/http://www.narprail.org/h0305.htm |archive-date=8 July 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Ultimately, a decision was made to keep the shuttle and reduce service on parallel bus routes instead.

VTA closed all three stations on this line for renovation in April 2008 to provide level boarding at all doors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vta.org/brochures_publications/pdf/take_one_nov_07.pdf |title=VTA Take-One |date=November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206151303/http://www.vta.org/brochures_publications/pdf/take_one_nov_07.pdf |archive-date=February 6, 2012 |publisher=Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority}}</ref> In 2009, the line was again proposed for discontinuation, although modified weekend-only service was a possibility.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/06/15/herhold-a-little-rail-line-in-jeopardy/ |title=Herhold: A little rail line in jeopardy |author=Herhold, Scott |date=June 15, 2009 |newspaper=San Jose Mercury News |access-date=4 March 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, the Almaden Shuttle's color on system maps changed from orange to purple, in preparation for a Mountain View–Alum Rock Orange Line to be inaugurated later that year.<ref name="LRT map" /> In a 2019 draft plan, VTA proposed to end service on the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line in favor of a Route 80 bus line;<ref name="Draft 2019" /> the final approved plan called for termination of service on December 28, 2019, with the replacement being bus 64a.<ref name="Dec 2019" /><ref name="2019 changes" />

==Station stops==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Station
! Other lines
! Transfer to
|-
| [[Ohlone/Chynoweth (VTA)|Ohlone/Chynoweth]]
| |{{rcb|SCVTA|Blue}}
| style="text-align:left"|VTA: [[Alum Rock–Santa Teresa (VTA)|Alum Rock–Santa Teresa LRT]], 13
|-
| [[Oakridge (VTA)|Oakridge]]<ref group = "note">Oakridge Mall is adjacent to this station.</ref>
|
| style="text-align:left"|VTA: 13
|-
| [[Almaden (VTA)|Almaden]]
|
| style="text-align:left"|VTA: 13, 64
|}

;Notes
<references group="note" />

===Station facilities===

All stations along this line had bike stations, and the Ohlone/Chynoweth and Almaden stations also had [[park-and-ride]] lots.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Attached KML |display=title,inline}}
*[http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_900.html VTA Route Information]

{{VTA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohlone Chynoweth-Almaden (VTA)}}
[[Category:Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail lines]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1991]]
[[Category:Railway lines closed in 2019]]