Fremont Line Disruptions

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/10/BANR10KEEC.DTL

I was caught in this mess this morning - 6 A.M. at the Hayward station with no information except the station agent (behind the closed gate) simply shrugging his shoulders and saying the station wouldn't open for at least an hour. 4 of us needing to get to work commandeered a taxi who broke every speed limit to get us to the Bay Fair station to catch the train from Dublin. Thank you Hayward cabby! BART did not seem to care about those of us who have to be at work early on a SATURDAY morning. Can you imagine if this had happened on a weekday with the higher-paid office workers in The City? You don't see too many business suits on the first train of a Saturday morning...

Your SFGATE comment?

BART didn't seem to care, or was it just the apparently worthless agent you dealt with?

Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont riders should allow an extra 10 minutes

BART encourages riders getting on or off at Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont stations to give themselves 10 minutes of extra time. BART is slightly modifying one train route following two fires at its Hayward Yard on Saturday, May 10. Despite the service change, BART still expects to provide full, on-time service on all other lines.

Normally both the Richmond-Fremont and San Francisco-Fremont lines serve those four stations. But starting Monday, May 12 and lasting approximately six to eight weeks, only the San Francisco-Fremont line will operate to Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont. Trains on the Richmond-Fremont line will stop short of those four stations and turn around at Bay Fair Station. During the hours when the San Francisco-Fremont line is not scheduled to operate (nights and Sundays), Richmond-Fremont trains will go all the way to Fremont.

"Riders getting on BART at Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont stations should get on the first train that arrives heading in their direction of travel," said BART Assistant General Manager of Operations Paul Oversier. "Depending on the time of day and where they are going, they may have to transfer at Bay Fair and wait on the same platform for a train that will take them the rest of the way to their destination. Riders should listen carefully to announcements to ensure that they make any necessary transfers.

"Because of Saturday's fires in our Hayward train yard, we will operate only one route between Fremont and Hayward stations. As a result of the fires, we have limited capacity to operate trains past the problem area. By having only one line of service through those four stations, we hope to keep a large majority of our 360,000 weekday riders on time while we repair the damage to our Hayward Yard," said Oversier. Approximately 18,400 passengers exit the Hayward, South Hayward, Union City and Fremont stations each weekday. "Even though we will temporarily have one line serving those four stations, trains will still operate at 15 minute intervals and they'll be eight, nine or ten cars long," Oversier said. "However, we want to apologize to our riders who have to transfer at Bay Fair Station. We want to assure them that we are working as quickly as we can to restore the service they've come to expect and enjoy.

LATEST ON FIRE INVESTIGATION
BART officials continue to look into what caused Saturday's fires impacting power facilities and the control tower at Hayward Yard. The electrical fires broke out as power was being restored Saturday morning following overnight work to upgrade one of the yard's electrical facilities.

The yard, which is home to about 25% of BART's 669 train cars, has no power as a result of the fires. BART normally uses the yard to store train cars and to perform maintenance work on them. BART officials expect the fire damage to impact train service for six to eight weeks.