BART Says Faulty Network Router Caused Massive Monday Night Delays
OAKLAND (KCBS) - The complete failure of a network router that tracks train movement throughout the Bay Area Rapid Transit system led to the massive delays on Monday night, BART officials said.
The faulty machine that stranded riders all over the Bay Area for close to three hours is one of two computers that transmit train locations to BART's operation control center.
It could be several weeks before BART determines why the router that failed did not send the data it had along to the other router, as it was designed to do in an emergency.
"The result was we had to assure ourselves of the safety of our passengers and we had to stop service temporarily," said Lynton Johnson, BART's chief spokesman.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
Trains stopped moving at 7:35 p.m. and service did not begin to resume until after 10 p.m.
Both routers are now working, Johnson said, and BART reported no significant delays during the Tuesday morning commute.
Because of the delay, the transit agency is re-thinking how its information technology department is staffed, Johnson said.
Trains could have been running sooner if IT personnel had been on hand to diagnose the problem and re-set the router. Johnson said in the future, an IT manager would be on duty during all service hours.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
