The Orange Line is an 18.0-mile (29.0 km)^[3] light rail line in the San Diego Trolley system, operated by San Diego Trolley, Inc. an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.^[2] The route connects Downtown San Diego with the cities of Lemon Grove, La Mesa, and El Cajon.^[4][5] The Orange Line has the lowest ridership of the San Diego Trolley's three regular lines, transporting 10,896,289 riders during FY 2014 according to the MTS.^[6]

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Orange Line
Orange Line train at Downtown San Diego 5th Avenue Station (March 2008).
Overview
Owner	Metropolitan Transit System
Locale	San Diego, California
Termini	Courthouse Arnele Avenue
Stations	19
Website	SDMTS - Trolley
Service
Type	Light rail
System	San Diego Trolley
Operator(s)	San Diego Trolley, Inc.
Rolling stock	3-car trains (typically, one SD100 between two streetcar-length S70US)
Daily ridership	19,128 (FY 2023)[1]
Ridership	6,251,754 (FY 2023)[1]
History
Opened	March 23, 1986; 38 years ago (1986-03-23)[2]
Technical
Line length	18.0 mi (29.0 km), as of 2013[3]
Number of tracks	2 tracks
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Electrification	Overhead line, 600 V DC
Operating speed	55 mph (89 km/h) (max)
Route map Orange Line highlighted in orange Show interactive map Legend Blue & Silver lines Courthouse Civic Center Fifth Avenue San Diego Square closed 1986 City College (via ) Park & Market 12th & Imperial Transit Center Green & Silver lines Blue Line Storage and Maintenance Yard I-5 25th & Commercial 32nd & Commercial SR 15 I-805 47th Street Euclid Avenue Encanto/62nd Street Massachusetts Avenue Lemon Grove Depot SR 94 Spring Street La Mesa Boulevard I-8 Green Line Grossmont SR 125 Amaya Drive I-8 El Cajon I-8 Arnele Avenue Green Line Other service sharing track All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

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It is one of four lines in the Trolley system, the others include the Blue, Green and Silver lines.^[2]

At night, the San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad uses the Orange Line right of way east of the rail yard near the 12th & Imperial Transit Center for its freight service to El Cajon and Santee.^[7]

The Orange Line is the second line in the San Diego Trolley system. Service began on March 23, 1986, originally as the East Line and initially operated between downtown San Diego and Euclid Avenue.^[8][9] The East Line, as it was then called, kept this name after successive extensions to Spring Street on May 12, 1989,^[8] to the El Cajon Transit Center on June 23, 1989,^[8] along the Bayside in downtown San Diego on June 30, 1990,^[9] and finally to Santee Town Center on August 26, 1995.^[8]

The line was renamed the Orange Line in 1997.^[8] Service between Gillespie Field and Santee Town Center was replaced by the Green Line in July 2005 upon that line's introduction.^[8][9]

In January 2013, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and SANDAG conducted talks about a possible trolley extension to San Diego International Airport. SANDAG has been conducting feasibility studies on an extension to Lindbergh Field since 2009. There are many different plans and scenarios for such an extension, but one of the possible scenarios is to extend the Orange Line from downtown San Diego up N. Harbor Drive to the passenger terminals on the south side of Lindbergh Field, with possible stops along the way. Currently, there is no projected start or completion date for such a proposed extension of the Orange Line to Lindbergh Field.^{[citation needed]}