BART temporarily suspends red-line service due to equipment problems

RICHMOND, Calif. - After two tough mornings, commuters who rely on BART may have to strap in for a bumpy commute in the days ahead. The problems will impact riders who rely on the red line between Richmond and Millbrae.

Regular announcements remind BART riders that service on the red line between Richmond and Millbrae is out of service. For now, riders will have to use the Berryessa, or orange line, and transfer. "So if you're going into San Francisco, or you're coming from San Francisco you're going to have to transfer, and those trains are supposed to meet up, they are timed transfers," said BART spokesperson Alicia Trost.

The problems started Sunday with a broken cable and a subsequent fire at a substation, impacting service along the Richmond lines Monday and Tuesday. BART managed to reroute power from the Antioch line, but the patch means that for now the Richmond route can't carry a full load of trains. 

"The reason why we can't run both lines, the red and the orange, is because of that fault in the cable," said Trost.

"We had to find exactly where that fault was, which we did do last night, which is great news, but now we have to repair it, and that just takes time."

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The impact on passengers is mixed. In Spanish, Alejandra Rodriguez said she didn't have any problems taking BART, it was a normal ride. But, student Luis Cortes says he's definitely noticed a difference in his commute. "Yeah, it causes a hassle you know, because I go to SF State so, I have to take the BART there," said Cortes. "It takes me directly there, so it causes me a lot of trouble with transportation."

As for a timeline, BART is saying it could take several days to replace the cable and reroute power to get full service, both the red and orange lines active again for Richmond bound trains.