BART Announces Weather-Related Computer Problems Will Continue Through Weekend; Commuters May Experience Delays

OAKLAND, Calif.--Feb. 2, 20046, 2004--Train control problems in Daly City, caused by yesterday's storms, are now expected to continue through the weekend, and possibly into early next week.

The heavy rains flooded an area where BART houses train-controlling computers, affecting the track switching equipment at Daly City.

The equipment failure is forcing BART to manually run trains through Daly City. That means trains can only move at about half their usual speeds.

POSSIBLE DELAYS

The slow down might cause up to 5 minute delays for commuters traveling through Daly City and San Francisco. But BART does plan to use several standby trains to pick up passengers should delays start to mount.

REROUTING

To relieve train congestion through Daly City, BART is turning trains coming from Fremont around at the 24th St./Mission Station. Trains coming from Richmond will turn around at Millbrae instead of at San Francisco International Airport. And trains coming from Pittsburg/Bay Point are turning around at SFO instead of Millbrae.

TIPS:

Fremont to Daly City Passengers: BART is turning trains around at the 24th St./Mission Station. Passengers wanting to go past 24th St./Mission Station will need to get off at that station and get on the appropriate train headed to their final destination.

San Francisco International Airport Bound Passengers: There is no direct service to SFO for passengers riding between Richmond and SFO. Those passengers need to transfer at Balboa Park to a train coming from Pittsburg/Bay Point headed to SFO. But trains coming from Pittsburg/Bay Point are going directly into SFO.

Millbrae Bound Passengers: Passengers headed to Millbrae should ride trains coming from Richmond.

Passengers traveling between Millbrae and SFO: BART has set up several trains to shuttle passengers between SFO and Millbrae.

BART officials apologize to customers for any inconvenience this may cause.