Passenger Trains > BART to Shut Down Transbay, two wkends in Aug, Sep

BART to Shut Down Transbay Service on (two) Weekends in Aug, Sep
(actual article headline is misleading)

Berkeley Patch
by Autumn Johnson
June 25, 2015

> All BART train service between San Francisco and the East Bay will be
> suspended during two upcoming weekends to allow for track repairs,
> BART officials said today. The closures, scheduled for Aug. 1-2 and
> for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 5-7, will allow BART to repair a
> critical section of track near the Transbay Tube, agency officials
> said.
>
> BART spokesman Jim Allison said that an interlocking, or series of
> switches, just outside the Transbay Tube that allows trains to change
> to another track has been broken for the past several weeks. The
> issue leaves BART with limited options in the case of a malfunction
> in the tube itself.
>
> “If a train breaks down in the Transbay Tube, right now we would only
> be able to run trains on one side of the tracks in one direction,”
> Allison said. “If we have this interlocking back we can alternate
> trains in either direction.”
>
> BART had planned to work on the interlocking anyway, but recent
> problems with it have made the repairs more urgent, Allison said. The
> project is extensive, however, involving the replacement of 932 ties
> and a total of 1,200 feet of rail. Around 90 workers and nearly every
> piece of maintenance equipment BART owns will be on the tracks,
> Allison said.
>
> BART will offer limited transbay bus service between 19th Street in
> Oakland and the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco during the
> closures, but agency officials warned it could involve delays of up
> to 1 to 2 hours for passengers. Ridership is typically low during the
> Labor Day weekend, but Allison said it would be best for residents
> who normally ride BART to make plans on their own side of the Bay
> this year.
>
> “The bus service is going to be really for people with no other
> options, we can’t stress that enough,” Allison said. “There’s just no
> way to get enough buses to replicate what BART does, and even if we
> had enough buses you’re still going to be dealing with bridge
> traffic.”

Full story:

BART to Shut Down Transbay Service on (two) Weekends in Aug, Sep

 

This is totally unacceptable. What are they going to do to get riders across the bay, put pontoons on busses? How about tractor tugs and barges? That's it, I will never ride BART again :)

No problem. Rent a boat and cruise across the bay. A better ride at that.

Indeed, cruise across the Bay - along with the other ... what, 50,000? ... weekend riders? Or maybe all drive across the Bay Bridge?

Among the things that there are replacing system wide is the wood ties that were under all the switches. Some of those wood ties are probably originals 40 years old. Best to replace the ties and rail at the same time all at once.

Gary

Posted from iPhone