BART Suffers Equipment Breakdown, Major Delays on New Line

Update 2:15 p.m. Monday: BART says its crews were successful in replacing a switch on its eBART line, between Pittsburg-Bay Point and Antioch. The agency says service has returned to normal.

Original post: BART and its eastern Contra Costa County patrons are suffering through a major service disruption on the brand-new eBART line.

The transit agency says the problem involves a track switch near the Pittsburg Center Station.

Pittsburg Center is midway between Antioch, eBART's eastern terminus, and Pittsburg-Bay Point, where passengers transfer to BART's main line through Contra Costa County to Oakland and on to San Francisco. The agency inaugurated the $520 million line on May 25.

BART said the switching problem was reported at 5 a.m.

Early morning commuters reported soon afterward via Twitter that it was taking nearly an hour to get from Antioch to Pittsburg-Bay Point, a trip that normally takes 14 minutes.

BART spokesman Jim Allison said in a recorded announcement that as of 10:30 a.m., westbound travelers were still facing delays of 20 to 30 minutes.

He said crews were at work replacing the switching equipment, but had no estimate for when normal service would be restored.

The eBART breakdown was just one of several equipment issues that slowed travel on the system Monday morning. At midmorning, the agency reported 20-minute delays in all directions on the South Fremont-Warm Springs line because of an equipment problem near the South Hayward Station.

Other delays included one of 10 minutes, between Daly City and Dublin-Pleasanton because of an equipment problem at Daly City; and another of 10 minutes, between downtown San Francisco and Millbrae and San Francisco International Airport because of police activity.