Hours after a mysterious accident jolted a Bay Area Rapid Transit train partly off the track, Oakland City Center station reopened Friday night and BART trains are running on time, though workers still were removing the stranded train and repairing damaged track. A single axle of the Fremont-Richmond train (Orange Line) hopped the track at 2:55 p.m. PST Friday, stopping the four-car train carrying about 100 passengers in the tunnel between the Lake Merritt and 12th Street stations just before rush hour. Passengers experienced system-wide delays of up to 30 minutes during the evening commute.
BART officials struggled for an hour to get passengers to and around the East Bay, bypassing trains around the stranded cars and then programming the Richmond and Pittsburg-Bay Point trains to alternate on the same 12th Street platform.
Oakland firefighters helped BART police and linguistic translators evacuate both the station and the stranded train 200 feet down inside the tunnel. One person was shaken up by the incident and taken to the hospital "for nerves".
BART officials were unsure whether repairs could be completed by this morning. "I'm going to cross my fingers and hope it will get done tonight," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson. What made the train leave the track isn't clear, Johnson said, and is something that happens "once every decade or so." Another BART spokesman, Jim Allison, says the train became immobile as the result of a damaged switch. According to Allison, there was a report of smoke in the tunnel, but no fire could be seen.
BART crews planned to split the train in two after service ended early today, tow half to a yard and lift the other half back onto the tracks, which need repair as well. The lead car apparently slammed back down on the rail and deformed it, requiring a replacement, Johnson said.
"We hope to have it done by morning, but that may not be possible," Johnson said. He added that regardless, Saturday service should not be affected, as trains are being re-routed around the area.
Until the track is repaired, Platform 1 at the Oakland City Center/12th St. Station and at the 19th St. Station in Oakland are closed and there will be no transfers between Richmond and Pittsburg-Bay Point trains at Oakland City Center. Transfers will be made at MacArthur Station.
