10:12 PM: BART officials are now saying that repairs to a damaged train, track and third rail following a derailment at the Concord BART station this evening are likely to continue through tomorrow night.
Train service past Pleasant Hill on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line has been canceled, with buses serving the Concord, North Concord/Martinez and Pittsburg/Bay Point stations from Pleasant Hill until the end of scheduled service, BART said in a statement this evening.
Riders traveling in to San Francisco or Oakland are being advised to catch their trains at the Pleasant Hill station on Saturday.
A shuttle train will also be operating between Pittsburg/Bay Point and North Concord, and buses will operate between the North Concord, Concord and Pleasant Hill stations.
The out-of-service train, which was traveling empty to the Concord Yard, was just leaving the Concord station around 6:30 p.m. when some train wheels went off the track, BART officials said.
While the cause remains unknown, the derailment occurred as the train traveled over a switching mechanism known as an interlocking, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The train is now blocking the rails in both directions and removing it is expected to be a difficult, lengthy process.
The train operator was not injured and no passengers were on board.
The Concord station was also the scene of a derailment on March, 13, 2011 involving a 10-car train carrying 65 passengers to San Francisco International Airport. Three people reported minor back injuries after that incident.
Service in the 2011 incident was restored in less than 24 hours.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
9:13 PM: A derailment at the Concord BART station that ended with part of a BART train hanging over the edge of elevated tracks had passengers scrambling to get to their destinations this evening.
The train, which was out of service and heading south with no passengers on board, derailed at about 6:30 p.m. just south of the station platform, BART officials said.
Three cars on the train went off the tracks as it traveled over a switching mechanism, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The train then came to a stop with its front edge skewed and hanging over the edge of the elevated tracks adjacent to a station parking lot.
With the train blocking tracks in both directions, BART discontinued service between Pleasant Hill and Pittsburg-Bay Point through the end of the night and likely into the weekend.
Roberta Lamark, 50, was heading back from work in Berkeley when BART officials notified passengers that there had been a derailment just ahead.
Lamark took a shuttle bus from Pleasant Hill to Concord and was waiting for more than an hour to be picked up by her husband to get home to Antioch.
“It was terrible, just chaos,” she said. “You have to count your blessings though, because we were right behind it.”
The incident drew dozens of curious residents to the scene.
Davina Hunter lives nearby and came out with her dog to see the train after hearing media helicopters overhead.
“This just shows we need more upgrades,” Hunter said.
Susan Sunshine, 57, also lives nearby and joined the crowd at Concord to see the derailed train.
She said she was considering having her family get on BART at Pleasant Hill now instead of Concord.
A train also derailed in the same area near the Concord station in March 2011 with 65 passengers on board, causing minor injuries to three people.
“It definitely is something we worry about,” Sunshine said.
BART crews with flashlights were inspecting the train and tracks tonight and Trost said delays could last into Saturday morning. BART is urging passengers to seek alternate forms of transportation.
One BART employee told passengers getting on and off the shuttle buses in Concord that the delays could even run into Monday or Tuesday, but declined to comment further when questioned by a reporter about her statement.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
8:57 PM: Nearly two dozen buses are now serving BART passengers traveling to stations east of Pleasant Hill on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line after a train derailment in Concord this evening, according to BART officials.
The bus bridge will allow passengers to travel to and from the Concord, North Concord/Martinez and Pittsburg/Bay Point stations while the derailed train at the Concord station is removed from the tracks, BART officials said.
However, lengthy delays continue on the line and BART officials say it could be a long wait before normal service is restored.
The out-of-service train, which was traveling empty to the Concord Yard, was just leaving the Concord station around 6:30 p.m. when some train wheels went off the track, BART officials said.
While the cause remains unknown, the derailment occurred as the train traveled over a switching mechanism known as an interlocking, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The train is now blocking the rails in both directions.
Removing the train from the tracks will be a difficult process and delays could continue through the rest of the evening and possibly even into tomorrow morning, Trost said.
“I’m told its going to be a very lengthy process and people should seek alternate transportation,” Trost said.
The train operator was not injured and no passengers were on board.
The Concord station was also the scene of a derailment on March, 13, 2011 involving a 10-car train carrying 65 passengers to San Francisco International Airport. Three people reported minor back injuries after that incident.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
7:56 PM: Two buses are providing limited service to BART passengers trying to get to stations east of Pleasant Hill on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line after a train derailment in Concord, a spokesman said this evening.
Passengers stranded by the derailment, which occurred around 6:33 p.m., can get some bus service from Pleasant Hill to Concord, North Concord/Martinez and Pittsburg/Bay Point stations, but service not as extensive as that normally provided by trains, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.
The derailment occurred around 6:30 p.m. when an empty, out-of-service train went off the tracks at the Concord station, just as it was leaving the platform, BART officials said.
Three cars on the train went off the track as it traveled over a switching mechanism known as an interlocking, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The train is now blocking the rails in both directions, and all service beyond Pleasant Hill has been halted.
Removing the train from the tracks will be a lengthy process and delays could continue through the rest of the evening and possibly even into tomorrow morning, Trost said.
No injuries have been reported, Allison said.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
6:58 PM: An out-of-service BART train has derailed on the Pittsburg-Bay Point line this evening, halting service beyond Pleasant Hill, according to a BART spokeswoman.
The derailment was reported around 6:20 p.m., BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
The train, which was empty and headed back to the Concord yard, is now blocking the rails in both directions between Pleasant Hill and Concord, Trost said.
BART officials are working to establish a bus bridge for stations beyond Pleasant Hill, Trost said.
It is unclear at this time if the train operator was injured, but there were no passenger injuries in the incident, Trost said.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
