5:40 PM: A small fire on the tracks near West Oakland disrupted BART service through the Transbay Tube this afternoon, a BART spokesman said.
At 4:35 p.m., a railroad tie, which is a piece of lumber between the tracks, caught fire on an elevated portion of the tracks near the West Oakland station before the entrance to the tunnel, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.
A foreworker went out to the site and extinguished the fire at 4:49 p.m.
While the worker was putting out the fire, all trains were held, according to Allison. Train service resumed shortly after 4:50 p.m.
As of 5:20 p.m., there were residual delays of more than 15 minutes on all lines that travel through the Transbay Tube, Allison said.
5:16 PM: BART passengers are experiencing major delays throughout the transit system this afternoon, a BART employee said.
A trackside equipment problem was reported at 3:35 p.m. between San Francisco’s Embarcadero station and the West Oakland station.
There are major delays to trains traveling between the two stations in both directions, the employee said.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
