BART: Service restored to all stations, major delays expected
SAN FRANCISCO -- BART officials say they have repaired a broken BART rail in San Francisco and restored power to an East Bay station. All stations have reopened and trains are running.
Repairs were completed to the 10-inch break in a track between 16th Street and Civic Center stations in San Francisco and the first trains began moving through on it around 3:42 p.m., according to BART. The cause of the break is not yet known.
BART recovers from string of events causing delays
All stations are now open, but some stations along Market Street are experiencing overcrowding.
"BART will not allow patrons onto the platform if doing so compromises safety," BART said in a statement.
The break was first discovered around 9:20 a.m. when an eastbound train passing over the area reported a problem.
"It was a bumpy ride," BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The break forced BART to single-track through San Francisco and caused major delays in both directions. Only San Francisco International Airport-bound trains traveling from the East Bay to the city were running past Montgomery Station for most of the day.
VIDEO: BART riders inconvenienced by delays
Complicating matters was a San Francisco Giants game against the San Diego Padres that let out this afternoon. BART officials spent much of the day urging commuters to use other forms of transportation.
"It's very unfortunate we are having delays and we are very sorry, especially with the Giants game, but this is a safety issue," Trost said.
"Every line is affected," Trost said this morning. "There's just not enough redundancy in the system, it wasn't built to accommodate this."
Service problems in the East Bay caused by a power outage are also resolved, but BART officials are warning travelers to expect residual delays of half an hour to 45 minutes as the evening commute ramps up.
VIDEO: BART riders seek alternate forms of transportation to avoid delays
The East Bay service disruption was reported at 2:30 p.m. between the Bay Fair station and the Hayward and Castro Valley stations.
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