Update: BART Service Restored but Expect Delays

Updated 7:30 a.m. 

Bay City News and Patch Staff —  BART says trains are running Friday morning after a systemwide glitch stranded riders late Thursday night and shut down service for almost three hours today.

Service was resuming at about half-capacity as of 7:15 a.m. with full service expected by 8:15 a.m., BART spokesman Jim Allison said.

Many commuters were forced to drive instead, snarling traffic on highways throughout the Bay Area this morning.

Trains shut down just before midnight and BART officials initially estimated trains would begin rolling at 5 a.m., but service didn't start until around 7:30 a.m. 

 BART spokesman Jim Allison said the major delays began shortly after midnight and resulted in between 500 and 1,000 Thursday late-night passengers waiting onboard 19 non-moving trains for a significant period of time early this morning.

Allison described the technical problem as BART computer systems in central control not communicating properly with the track switches.

 "Train operators and track crews are instead manually cranking switches into position to route the trains properly," Allison said. Computer technicians are working to restore normal operations, Allison said.

BART crews did not begin track maintenance as scheduled due to the technical issues, resulting in no BART service this morning, according to Allison.

 Two Caltrain routes will make extra stops in Millbrae, and San
Francisco International Airport will provide a bus bridge from the Millbrae
Caltrain station to the airport to help travelers get to their destinations, according to Samtrans officials.
          
           The northbound 215 Caltrain will pick up passengers in Millbrae at
7:40 a.m. and the northbound 225 Caltrain will pick up passengers at 8:40
a.m., according to Caltrain officials.
         
 San Francisco International Airport will be running a bus bridge
from the Millbrae Caltrain station to the airport to help stranded travelers
this morning, officials said.