Equipment problems on BART tracks between two stations in Contra Costa County is likely to spill into Thursday morning's commute.
BART first reported a service disruption between its North Concord/Martinez and Pittsburg/Bay Point stations on Wednesday morning. It is suspected an electrical power surge, possibly coming from the tracks, damaged several BART cars and forced the stations to shut down, prompting system-wide delays.
"Something was causing a spike in voltage that damaged part of the equipment in those train cars," BART spokesperson Alicia Trost said.
A similar problem created a BART service disruptions two weeks ago and involved trains running through the Transbay Tube.
A bus bridge has been set up to help with the morning commute because BART officials are not sure if the two stations will be open in time. Engineers also are not sure when the power surge problem will be fixed. Crews were running test trains late Wednesday.
"We're running them at reduced speeds to see if any of these issues are popping up," Trost said.
The service disruption sparked overcrowding on buses and trains, and also confused many passengers during the Wednesday evening commute.
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"I didn't know nothing about this until I got to the BART station," passenger DeMarcus Threat said. "As soon as I get here I see the gates closed."
