If you’re planning a trip across the Bay this weekend, make sure you take a good look at the schedule on Sunday, April 26th.
While originally scheduled for April 19th, BART pushed its lighting installation in the Transbay Tube back a week to avoid coinciding with the closure of EB I-80 Bayshore Freeway.
Now, crews will be in the Transbay Tube all day this coming Sunday, causing the following service impacts:
- All BART trains will run every 30 minutes
- Only Blue, Yellow, and Orange lines will be in service (Red and Green will not operate)
- A shuttle will operate in place of the Yellow Line between SFO and Millbrae
More lighting work will take place on Sunday, June 7th, and Sunday, June 19th, causing similar disruptions.
This type of maintenance usually requires the closure of one side of the tube at a time, meaning trains will travel more intermittently on a single track. Usually, BART operates all five lines on 20-minute intervals.
The modified construction hours also reflect BART’s Alternative Service Plan, which would be implemented if the “Connect Bay Area” measure fails to pass — more on that here.
Once the world’s longest and deepest immersed transit tunnel
While 230,000 passengers rely on the Transbay Tube every day, it’s easy to overlook the fact that BART’s Transbay Tube is actually an engineering marvel.
The tube is over 50 years old, and at the time of its construction, it was the longest and deepest immersed transit tunnel in the world. The tube descends to a maximum depth of 135 feet below the water.
The Transbay Tube is 48 feet wide with two interior tunnels for trains traveling in each direction. They flank an interior gallery used for maintenance, ventilation, and emergency escape. You can read our article to learn more about the Transbay Tube’s design and features.
