UPDATE: BART Delays, Damages, Electrical Issues, and Hopes of a Fix

BART UPDATE: BART train service has returned today on a limited basis between two East Bay stations where test runs have been assessing electrical issues that damaged train cars last week, BART officials said.

Riders traveling between the Pittsburg/Bay Point and North Concord/Martinez stations have had to rely on bus shuttles after a glitch knocked more than 50 BART train cars out of commission Wednesday morning. Train service between the two stations was suspended until today, when BART officials said a shuttle train was beginning to transport riders every 15 minutes between the stations for the evening commute.

The train will only be making trips between the stations during morning commute hours from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m., and evening commute hours from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., BART officials said. Buses will continue to be used outside of those hours while crews investigate the electrical issues. Passengers on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line will need to transfer to another train at North Concord/Martinez to continue their trip to Oakland and San Francisco, BART officials said.

BART officials said the plan was introduced after a test train carrying riders made multiple successful trips between the stations starting Sunday night. There was no danger posed to riders by the issues experienced Wednesday, BART officials said. Train cars were being hit with a voltage spike while passing between the stations, damaging the cars' propulsion systems, but the trains were able to continue to their destination.

Although the problem was not dangerous for riders, some of the train cars damaged will require a lengthy and expensive repair. Some train cars need to have a part replaced that is typically only received every 22 weeks from a specialized manufacturer, BART chief mechanical officer Dave Hardt said at a news conference Thursday. As a result, he expected it to take months for BART's fleet to be recovered fully. He also expected that buying all the particular parts could cost up to an estimated $100,000.

This morning, BART officials said alternate suppliers of the spare parts needed are also being explored. Systemwide, trains may have less cars and may be more crowded because of the diminished number of train cars available in BART's fleet. But the amount of operating train cars in the fleet did improve over the weekend by 36 cars, BART officials said.

There were 557 train cars available today compared to the roughly 590 cars normally running in the fleet during a weekday morning. While one crew is working to repair the damaged train cars, another is investigating the cause of the voltage spike, which has still not been determined, BART officials said. Outside expertise has been recruited to help with the troubleshooting, BART officials said.

"The experts are providing a fresh set of eyes to the problem," BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. "Crews have been systematically identifying all possibilities and then eliminating them one by one. While long and tedious, it will help crews get closer to the problem."

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ORIGINAL REPORT:

RICHMOND, CA- BART is recovering from 20-minute delays this morning because of a disabled train on the Fremont line.

The delay was first reported at about 7:50 a.m. near the Union City station and affected the Fremont, Richmond and Daly City lines, according to BART officials.

The disabled train has since been cleared, BART officials said shortly after 8:30 a.m.

By Bay City News