BART's Green Line still out of service
The Brief
BART restored service to all 50 stations Wednesday morning, but there is still no Green Line service.
Tuesday's fire at San Leandro station damaged track equipment.
Long-term repairs will happen through the weekend.
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - BART reopened early Wednesday morning after a very long outage to all points south of Oakland's Lake Merritt station. Given the size of Tuesday's fire the San Leandro Station and the damage it did, BART crews distinguished themselves by coming up with a fix that works for now.
What we know
On Wednesday, at San Leandro's BART station, three things were going on at the same time. One: almost normal service provided relief to regular riders after a terrible Tuesday.
"I depend on BART to get to work and, you know, when I get here and something's going on, it's like it's not dependable," said BART rider John Kelly.
Many thousands were inconvenienced.
"Yesterday, I had to take Uber, paid forty-something dollars," said BART rider Dorothy Cartehena.
"I had to check my BART app to see what the message was regarding which line was working," said rider Kisela Kalamay Ortega who was happy she didn't have an appointment yesterday.
"A lot of people on the bus, but it took maybe 40 minutes by bus. It wasn't bad, but it would have took me 15 [minutes] on BART," said rider Rick Mason.
What we don't know
Two: the investigation into the precise cause of the fire continues. Three: the temporary repairs are being closely watched.
"You make temporary repairs so you can restore service right away. Then you focus on more of the long-term repairs which will happen into this weekend," said BART Spokesperson Chris Filippi.
Due to ongoing repairs, the Green Line from Berryessa to Daly City requires a change of trains.
"We have service to all 50 stations in the system," said Filippi.
The passage of Measure RR in 2016 provided $3.5 billion to rebuild BART's critical infrastructure. "Of that, more than $1.2 billion goes to our power infrastructure," said the BART spokesman.
So far, 60 miles of main train power cables have been replaced. "You need to maintain your infrastructure and you need to replaces items when they outlive their design life," said Filippi.
Fact is: San Leandro Station is one of the oldest stations because it's one of the original stations and that means wear and tear is a constant thing decade after decade after decade.
Yet, hope for BART springs eternal. "I know BART is struggling right now but I think it can overcome times like this for sure," said rider Jonathan Neumann. "I hope they can get this situation solved and all the BART riders will be happy," said rider Kenneth Hill.
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