BART Taking Steps To Prevent Track Troubles From Heat After Commute Meltdown
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - BART is taking action to try to prevent further troubles due to the excessively hot weather hitting in the Bay Area.
The system experienced major delays during the evening commute Monday because of trackway equipment problems.
The train control at MacArthur station malfunctioned because of the heat, causing delays after it went down. A similar issue happened at the Pittsburgh-Bay Point station as well.
Those issues, combined with packed, 50-year-old trains chugging along at reduced speed, with air conditioning units struggling to blow out cool air and a rush of people getting off work early to watch the Warriors game at Oracle Arena, and the transit system had a perfect storm of triple digit misery.
READ MORE: Extreme Heat Causes Systemwide BART Delays
BART officials said they will distribute additional portable air conditioning units along the Richmond and Dublin-Pleasanton lines.
Also, technicians are postponing scheduled maintenance on the transit agency's rail cars so they can focus on tackling any issues due to overheating.
Thousand suffered on long rides home or were left waiting for hours at the platform.
BART Board President Bevan Dufty offered an apology to riders on Tuesday.
"We're sorry. We want to deliver a better service," said Dufty. "We are constrained by the reality of our aging system that needs to be reinvested."
Dufty said the 75 new cars that were running Monday had no problems. More of those cars are being added to the fleet every month.
As for the train control rooms, transit officials are taking bids to upgrade the system.
