BART’s Disastrous Day: Broken Rail, Six-Hour Slowdown, Power Outage

BART customers may be accustomed to delays and inconsistencies with their weekly transportation routine, but on Wednesday they experienced a triple-whammy nightmare that extended throughout the work day.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a broken rail discovered in the heart of the morning commute resulted in a six-hour slowdown. Later, a PG&E power outage during the afternoon prompted three stations to be completely shutdown in the East Bay. On top of it all, debris and reports of a person on the tracks in Contra Costa County added to the massive delays. Officers reportedly searched the tracks and did not find anyone there.

BART is hardly the shining new vision of transportation it was when it had first opened its train doors to the public 43 years ago in 1972. The system is now aging and in dire need of updates, including new rail cars, a train control and maintenance center as well as rail replacements, the Chronicle notes.

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