The “new” VTA changed its bus schedules last month, and this month they begin retrofitting Light Rail stations on the Guadalupe South line so that disabled riders can board without using ramps or lifts. Construction at WG’s Tamien Station begins this weekend, with a complete closure for southbound access:

Light-rail vehicles traveling south will not stop at the Tamien station Saturday and Sunday. But northbound trains will make their usual stop. …

Riders headed toward the Santa Teresa station can take the bus to the Curtner stop and then board a southbound light-rail train.

Service interruptions at Tamien will continue through weekends in May, but the station will remain open.

The following will be in effect as indicated, weather and conditions permitting.

What: Weekends only, southbound light rail trains will not stop at Tamien Light Rail Station. Southbound riders ending or beginning their trips at Tamien will need to utilize substitute bus service, called a “bus bridge.�

Where: The bus bridge will transport southbound passengers beginning their trip at Tamien from Tamien to Curtner Light Rail Station, where they will be able to board a southbound light rail train. Southbound passengers ending their trip at Tamien will board the bus bridge at Convention Center station for transport to Tamien Station. Southbound passengers beginning their trip at either Children’s Discovery Museum or Virginia stations will need to board a southbound train, travel past Tamien to Curtner Station and then take a northbound train back to Tamien.

When: From the beginning of service Saturday morning to the end of service Sunday night.

The entire retrofitting project runs through March 2009. The Curtner and Capitol stations will be closed late April through early July (reopening is planned before Independence Day), and most stations up and down the Santa Teresa line will be impacted along the way.