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BART Blames Computer Upgrade For System-Wide Outage

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) --Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are blaming a network server upgrade for a computer problem that shut down train service.

Bay Area Rapid Transit agency spokeswoman Alicia Trost said BART implemented the planned upgrade on Thursday, but it later began affecting the performance of the computer system used to monitor train service. The system eventually went offline.

Service was delayed on Thursday night and only started back up around 7:15 a.m. Friday, a little more than three hours later than normal.

Trost said the server has been returned to its original configuration now and the problem fixed.

Meanwhile, transit agencies around the Bay Area were in communication with BART about its computer failure from the beginning. Some agencies have more flexibility than others to respond to such situations with more service.

Caltrain passengers who normally transfer on the Peninsula to BART were told to stay put and BART passengers in early hours boarded Caltrains to get to San Francisco.

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Malorie Rosen and her friends were Paris bound, but because BART airport service had stopped, they had to roll their luggage bags on wheels through the BART terminal and find a cab.

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"It'll be fine. It's sort of a pain," she said.

Others opted to ride the buses or to drive during the shutdown.

By morning, trains were running again with the computer problem fixed.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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