Major BART delays persist a day after equipment issues, fire cause significant disruptions

By Carlos E. Castañeda

After resuming normal service early Wednesday, BART followed its Tuesday evening equipment issues with new delays across the system later Wednesday morning, with additional issues causing afternoon commute delays for the second straight day.

In a statement Wednesday morning, agency officials said service was fully restored at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and that Wednesday service opened at its normal time, with trains running at reduced speeds between Colma and Daly City. Tuesday’s issues included a substation fire near the Daly City station, leading to major disruptions during the Tuesday evening commute.

New BART delays on Wednesday morning

However, at about 9 a.m., BART reported another major delay on the San Francisco line in the East Bay, SFO Airport, Millbrae, and Daly City directions because of ongoing equipment problems on the track near the Daly City and West Oakland stations.

In addition, the agency said there was limited Blue Line service between Dublin/Pleasanton and 24th/Mission stations. Passengers traveling from San Francisco line were told to board an Antioch or Richmond train and transfer at 24th St Mission to the Blue Line train.

At 11:28 a.m., BART said that while service was restored to all 50 stations late Tuesday, additional repairs were needed to train control equipment, causing delays for trains near the Daly City station. The agency also said some lines were running a different service pattern to reduce train congestion near Daly City and through San Francisco.

The service changes meant some passengers would need to transfer to complete their trips on the system.

Wednesday afternoon, BART alerted of another major delay, this time on the Dublin/Pleasanton Line due to a PG&E power outage between the Castro Valley and Dublin/Pleasanton stations. The issue was reported at 3:50 p.m. and delays were reported across the system through the afternoon commute.

Tuesday PM commute on BART disrupted

On Tuesday, BART first reported trackside equipment problems around 2:48 p.m. near Daly City. Red Line service was later canceled as the disruption worsened.

The problems affected service in multiple directions, including trains traveling toward SFO, Millbrae and the East Bay. The disruption also affected several downtown San Francisco stations.

BART said an additional disruption developed Tuesday evening after a substation fire near the Daly City station. This prompted service to stop between West Oakland and Daly City in both directions. The San Francisco Fire Department said it was able to contain the fire by 7:44 p.m., and BART restored power to the trackway shortly after 9 p.m.  

At Embarcadero Station, trains did not pass through in either direction for more than 30 minutes between about 7 and 7:30 p.m., according to observations at the station.

By 7:33 p.m., an East Bay-bound train at the station had been emptied and passengers were directed to leave the station by BART police officers.

Embarcadero, Montgomery Street and Powell Street stations were temporarily closed amid the disruption, with BART police warning that additional station closures could follow.

BART said that as of 9:30 p.m., limited service had been restored on the San Francisco line between West Oakland and Balboa Park stations.

“BART service is also running between Colma, SFO, and Millbrae stations. Muni is providing service between Balboa Park and Daly City Station. SamTrans is providing service between Daly City and Colma stations,” an advisory read.

BART has not provided additional details about what caused the trackside equipment problem near Daly City.