Oakland

New BART Train Fails at Lake Merritt Station Causing Systemwide Delays

A new four-car BART train underwent overnight testing but failed early Friday morning, triggering major systemwide delays. 

The issue was first reported before 5 a.m. at the Lake Merritt Station in Oakland. 

Officials origially said it is "too soon to say exactly why it lost propulsion." After investigation, a blown fuse was determined to be the culprit.

While the out-of-service train — that officials say was not carrying passengers — was pushed to a pocket track near the San Leandro station, BART was forced to single-track it through the area. 

BART officials said on Twitter around 6:45 a.m. that the system was "recovering," but advised commuters to expect residual delays. 

BART officials have on order 775 new train cars, which are scheduled to be delivered between now and 2022. The first 10 were delivered last year.

BART officials are aiming to eventually have 1,081 new cars running but there is no money right now for the additional 306.

Also, adding the 306 would require the train control system to be upgraded, according to Huckaby.

Measure RR, which voters passed in November, provides $3.5 billion for the construction and improvement of BART property. Some of that money could be used to upgrade the train control system, Huckaby said.

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