Train misses turn???

Can anyone verify this? Cross-posted from BART Musings. Original post at:

http://bartmusings.blogspot.com/2008/08/bart-train-operator-misses-turn-nothing.html

This seems like quite an extreme problem.

This morning I got on the 8:29 train from Hayward (headed toward Richmond), and all seemed well. I was peacefully reading my newspaper and ignoring the train conductor announcements, when I noticed that we had pulled into the West Oakland station.

Okay, I did get on the right train? The Richmond line does not go to West Oakland. We had been moving kind of slowly, but I didn’t think anything of it. The conductor (is that what they call them?) comes on in a CLEAR voice (unlike the monosyllabic station announcements) and mentions that we missed our turn. We missed our turn? WTF? How do you miss a turn on a train? Apparently, there was a little “computer” glitch that caused the train to head to San Francisco instead of Richmond.

We were detained at West Oakland and turned around. The conductor walked through the train to the other side (you know the snake-like qualities of BART are somewhat amusing) and headed to the other end, so that we could indeed head toward the North Bay. You could hear passengers everywhere whipping out those cell phones calling their bosses to explain their tardiness in advance. Somebody’s job interview DID NOT GO WELL.

Anyway, my usually uneventful 30 minute BART ride, turned in to a 60 minute ride. Thankfully, I didn’t have to transfer.