UPDATE: Ongoing Electrical Problems Shut Down BART's Red Line For Repairs
RICHMOND (CBS SF) -- Some Bay Area BART riders will have to start taking alternate routes. BART is suspending service on the Red Line indefinitely for repairs after days of electrical problems on the busy Richmond-Millbrae line.
On Monday, an electrical fire brought service to a halt during Monday morning's commute. Just the day before, a power outage caused lengthy travel delays on the line. Power was restored around midday on Sunday but BART ran only Orange Line trains (Richmond to Berryessa) on the line for several hours.
"On Sunday, we've experienced a power traction cable fault on the Richmond Line. This means cables which feed electricity to power trains broke. The damaged cables are unable to feed power to both Orange AND Red Line trains currently," BART officials said. "In a stroke of real misfortune, the section where cable fault occurred was to begin replacement starting this week."
Officials said the damaged cables were nearly 50 years old.
As of Tuesday evening, BART officials said service between Richmond and MacArthur Stations will be limited to the Orange Line, only. Trains will run on a normal schedule.
Riders traveling from Richmond and Ashby stations to San Francisco/SFO should transfer from an Orange Line train to a Yellow train.
Riders traveling from the East Bay to SFO should take a Yellow Line train.
BART will provide a shuttle train between SFO and the Millbrae Station.