OAKLAND—A breakdown during an overnight test of BART’s ‘Train Of The Future’ caused a major delay on the East Bay lines of the transit system’s on Friday, April 28. BART officials reported that a problem developed with the train just before 5 a.m. near or inside the Lake Merritt Station.
According to reports, the four-car train was returning from a test run when a problem suddenly arose. The newly designed cars were returning from overnight testing when the cars became disabled. It reportedly had to be pushed to a pocket track near the Bay Fair Station.
The car malfunction caused trains on the Fremont and Dublin-Pleasanton lines to be forced to a single track, while the disabled train was towed to a maintenance facility. East Bay BART commuters experienced delays of 20-30 minutes. SF Bart tweeted, “BART recovering: 20 min delay in FRMT and MLBR dirs due to equip prob.”
Sixty new cars were expected to hit the rails by the end of the year, with the full order of 775 expected by 2021. BART is spending $2.5 billion to replace and expand its aging fleet of 664 cars.