Apparent vandalism overnight led BART to halt service on Friday morning between Hayward and North San José, the agency said.
The agency said that it was unable to begin service on the southern stretch of its Orange and Green line trains, which connect the East Bay and South Bay.
Just after 2 p.m., service on the Orange line between Richmond and Berryessa was restored, but Green line trains from Daly City were still only traveling as far south as Hayward.
That follows multiple widespread BART outages this year as the transit system faces a major budget deficit and threat of possible service reductions.
The latest disruption is believed to be the result of damage to wayside equipment, which is installed on BART trackways to detect trains and possible hazards and send commands to control train movement.
“It’s equipment that is essential for us to be able to safely run trains,” spokesperson Chris Filippi said. “That was damaged at some point from when we stopped service last night to when we wanted to start service this morning.”
Filippi said AC Transit and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority buses were running parallel routes between Hayward and Milpitas, and Milpitas and Berryessa, respectively.
He said BART passengers should look for the best alternative to get to their destination on BART.gov/alternatives.
Separate equipment issues in September and May halted trains for hours, and another problem on one of two Transbay Tube tracks connecting San Francisco to the East Bay slowed systemwide travel in October.
The outages have left customers frustrated, and advocates warning of what the future of Bay Area public transit could look like without a major funding boost.
Transit agencies in the region have struggled to regain pre-pandemic ridership due to a rise in remote work. Prior, BART said passenger fares and parking fees covered 70% of its operating costs. Now, that’s down to 25%.
Earlier this year, the agency announced $35 million in budget cuts and cost controls to balance its books for 2025, but it said it is operating on emergency funds that will run out in 2026. BART’s deficit is expected to balloon to $400 million by 2027.
It’s warned that without significant new funding, it could cut weekend service, close stations, shut down lines or reduce the number of trains it runs per hour.
Advocates are aiming to put a five-county sales tax measure on next November’s ballot to generate up to $980 million a year for local transit agencies for 14 years. In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed state Senate Bill 63, paving the way for the measure to be placed on the ballot.
A separate effort in San Francisco to support the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency would add a parcel tax to properties to generate up to $85 million a year, though the tax measure is still in early stages.
KQED’s Amanda Hernandez contributed to this report.
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