BART services restored after day of power issues, 200 passengers stranded in Transbay Tube
"I was scared. It was a terrifying experience. It was horrifying."
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- BART's day of major mishaps came to an end late Friday night after an issue in the Transbay Tube was finally fixed following hours of service disruptions.
The problems all began with a frightening morning commute into San Francisco for hundreds of BART passengers that were stranded inside a broken-down train in the Transbay tube.
BART says at 7:11 a.m. there was a loss of power on one of the two tracks. BART confirmed the disabled train is on the powered-down rail. Around 200 people were onboard and in the dark for about two hours.
Video shared by a man onboard the train showed pitch black darkness. The train was inbound to the Embarcadero from the East Bay.
BART says a fail safe system shut down a sub station.
The man we spoke with says he was on the train for two hours and people starting to get worried about oxygen deficiency.
He says they opened the doors to the train and moved through an exit where a rescue train took all the passengers back to West Oakland station at around 8:35 a.m.
"I was scared. It was a terrifying experience. It was horrifying. Underwater with no oxygen, no plan, no update. Even the BART operator said 'hey, I have nothing else to say to you guys;" said Masih Alimy.
Alimy said he and others helped some elderly passengers off one train and into the rescue train.
Everyone at the West Oakland looked for other modes of transportation.
The agency initially reported the delay was due to an equipment problem on the track.
BART says Muni provided mutual aid between Embarcadero and Daly City stations.
Two BART trains also went out of service in the Transbay Tube on Sunday and both had to be towed out.
BART also says the Green Line which runs from Berryessa station to Daly City is not running.
RELATED: BART service restored in Transbay Tube after equipment issues
This delay comes after BART said it was experiencing delays on the Richmond line earlier Friday due to a staffing shortage, the agency says. It's unclear why there was a staffing shortage, but it was first reported as an "equipment shortage."
BART said there was a limited Red Line service on the Richmond line in the Millbrae direction.
The transit agency says passengers traveling from Richmond can board a Berryessa train, transfer at MacArthur to an SFO train, then transfer to a Millbrae train at SFO.
ABC7 News reached out to BART and it says its limited service is "until further notice." It is currently working to resolve the issue.
511 sent an update at around 2:30 p.m., stating that "BART service is to expect major delays systemwide through the end of service tonight due to single Tracking through the transbay tube" from the electrical issues.
You can take a look at the BART service map here.
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