It's not clear how many hours we may be looking at here, but Muni was melting down Tuesday morning, with no light-rail trains able to pass through the Market Street subway tunnel in the downtown direction.

The SFMTA first reported the problem at 9:07 am, and it's almost like the bad old pre-pandemic days when Muni service only tended to melt down during the height of the morning or evening commute. A downed overhead power line near Civic Center in the downtown direction was causing the problem.

All eastbound/downtown-bound K, L, and M trains are turning back at Castro, and bus shuttle service was being provided between the Castro and Steuart Street. Eastbound J and N trains are turning back at Church and Duboce.

With the eastbound trains in the tunnel switching over to the outbound/westbound platform at Church, it seems as though westbound service is likely being impacted as well.

The SFMTA has not provided any estimate for fixing the downed wire.

Such major meltdowns have been less frequent in recent years, but ridership has also been down, and perhaps the smaller issues haven't bubbled up into the news as much because fewer people have been affected.

Update: A 1:25 pm update from the SFMTA said that the overhead line was still being repaired. But it mentions a disabled train in the tunnel between Civic Center and Powell stations, so it seems like a train must have become stuck after the line was damaged. No word on how many passengers might have been stuck on that train.