BART announced Tuesday it will temporarily stop accepting delivery of new Fleet of the Future (FOTF) rail cars in 2021 due to unsolved problems.
According to a statement, the rail cars' manufacturer, Bombardier Transportation, needs to improve the cars' reliability and availability.
The issues in the new rail cars are related to software in the train's control system making the car routinely stop while in service and having to be rebooted by the train operator. The problem causes a five to ten minute delay.
Under rainy conditions, the cars' wheels develop flat spots thus resulting in the car being removed from service to fix the wheels.
In the same statement, transportation officials said BART is expected to have 209 FOTF cars by Jan. 8, 2021 and it will retire 618 legacy cars to make room for additional FOTF cars.
"BART is committed to supporting Bombardier Transportation as they work to address issues that impact the reliability and availability of the FOTF, and to implement pragmatic solutions that will provide the highest levels of performance for the new cars," the statement read.
