1:45 PM (Janna Brancolini, Bay City News): BART riders experienced major delays this afternoon due to a disabled train at the Powell Street station in San Francisco, an agency spokesman said.
A mechanical problem was reported at about noon and the train was taken out of service, causing delays of up to 45 minutes, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said.
By 1:15 p.m., most of the delays were minor, he said.
It took about 30 to 45 minutes for crews to clear the train, which was pushed by another train toward the Balboa Park station, Johnson said.
The train was pushed at about 10 mph, so passengers trying to get around the train were significantly delayed until it reached its destination at 1:12 p.m.
In the meantime, BART single-tracked trains around the slow-moving pair.
“It’s like having a car moving on a freeway that has one lane going each direction,” Johnson said. “The car in front of you is going 10 mph and you’re trying to go 60. We’re trying to use the opposite-direction lane to get around it.”
The passengers on the disabled train were switched to another one, Johnson said. No injuries were reported.
The Richmond-Fremont line was not affected by the delays, Johnson said.
Passengers headed from San Francisco to the East Bay and from the East Bay to downtown San Francisco were experiencing delays of five to 10 minutes as of about 1:15 p.m., Johnson said.
1:30 PM: According to a service update posted to BART’s site:
BART is beginning service restoration following major noon-hour delays due to a disabled train at Powell Street Station.
The train became stuck at Powell Street Station around 11:45 am due to a mechanical issue. It was moved slowly out of the way to the Daly City maintenance yard, but during that time there was single tracking around it.
Currently there are delays of 15-20 minutes between the East Bay and San Francisco and 10-15 minute delays between Millbrae and San Francisco. There are no delays on the Richmond-Fremont line.
Delays were at least 45 minutes for customers who were on the system at the time when the train became disabled.
12:29 PM: According to BART, there are “is a major delay on the Daly City Line in the SFO, Millbrae, Daly City and East Bay directions due to an equipment problem on a train.”
The “equipment problem,” according to BART officials, is a disabled train at Powell station that had been headed toward SFO.
According to BART, delays for riders could be as lengthy as 30-45 minutes.
We’ve put in a call to BART to get more details, but until then, what are you seeing? Is it the BARTpocaplyse?
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