BART officials said in an afternoon update that some passengers were taken for medical evaluation after a train car derailed and caught fire Monday morning near Orinda.
The transit agency had initially reported that no one was injured after the derailment, which happened shortly after 9 a.m. on the eastbound Yellow Line between the Lafayette and Orinda stations.
“A number of people were transported to medical facilities for evaluation following this incident. Based on those initial reports from first responders there were no major injuries,” BART said in an update.
The exact number of those getting medical attention hasn’t been released.
Two cars were reported to be on fire after the derailment and the Orinda Fire Department extinguished the flames.
The Orinda and Lafayette BART stations are closed on Monday afternoon and there is no train service between Rockridge and Walnut Creek.
BART officials said in the noon update that a bus bridge is being provided to cover the affected route. Passengers traveling from SFO will need to offboard at Rockridge, and board a bus to the Walnut Creek station.
Passengers traveling from Antioch will need to offboard at Walnut Creek and take a bus to the Rockridge station.
20 comments
I’m sure certain people are looking at this as a potential pay day, the retirement plan
Well, before they would ever pay out a penny, I hope they would verify that those riders did not jump the fare gate! Bart is full of those moochers-and they’d be the first to want to sue.
Oh, no. BART tried to lie and say no one was injured! Gasp! I never would have thought an agency such as this would be deceitful! They only have the best interests of taxpayers and paying riders at heart!
I am sorry that people were injured today.
The top people at Bart need to be held responsible.
Starting with Robert Powers. If he can’t keep the trains on the tracks then we need to find someone who can.
g
Bart doing a fine job once again. Derailments are a factor of train operation but when it seems like everything else is in a state of turmoil within the organization this does not help, glad no one was hurt. Hell of a way to run a railroad.
… after billions were sent their way for maintenance and improvements …. need a complete new board of directors and upper management
The amount of money we put into this failed system. it’s literally astonishing. Bart employees are some of the highest paid public employees.
bart third rail 1,000 volts DC at anywhere from 1,000 – 1,500 amps.
Once it shorts you get plasma.
Lots of overtime repairs on a Holiday.
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Would be interesting to see what data historian recorded during the unplanned detour.
More BART lies, what was the cause, Poor maintenance or was it just lack of funding they will say. Just can’t for the investigation results.
Fleet of the Future my ass.
Unbelievable.
Lawsuits!!!
BART recently did track work in the area. About 2 years ago
Wouldn’t be surprised if the soggy soil under BART tracks contributed to the derailment. Pretty sure that BART regularly checks its tracks daily for potential problems. But soil collapse isn’t always noticable or predictable.
What happened per Deborah Allen, a BART Director is:
1. The fiberoptic line that controls the track switches was down.
2. The Train Operator was told to stop, exit the train, and switch it manually.
3. Then when he proceeded the crash happened.
4. What exactly happened is to be determined.
If you have X (Twitter) she’s at @debora_allen1and has discussed it some.
I like Deborah Allen! She is about the only one at Bart who is smart and reasonable, and not caught up in all this other nonsense like letting the homeless and inner-city people ride for free ( like the other Bart directors delibetately allowed ) Ends up these non-payers were the all the ones causing all the trouble on Bart that chased away half the ridership in fear.
If that is the case would be interested to know if manual track switching is in Train Operator’s job description and if so how much training in doing so was given. Will NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigate incident ?
Yesterday a BART spokesman was asked about if the NTSB would be involved. It was the only question he seemed prepared to answer and it was “No, because there were no fatalities.” Translation, we are sweeping this one under the rug. Beyond that, the spokesman was extremely unprepared. He claimed there were no injuries and then backed off to silence when asked about multiple ambulances leaving the scene with patients. I forget what else he said but it was 100% CYA by BART including the “no injuries” claim, presumably with that intent that his version of the incident and resulting events would be the only one broadcast around the world for the record.
Can you say $$$$$$ even if some didn’t get hurt they will have their hand out.
If your train derails and catches fire, that should be good for a lifetime BART pass. Should you be reckless enough to keep using BART anyway.
Smoking cars were common on old time trains.
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