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BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a modern rapid rail system (30 km underground in downtown San Francisco Oakland and Berkeley) which crosses the Bay in a 5.8 km long immersed-tube tunnel and serves surrounding cities like Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo. Its construction began in 1964 between Concord and Walnut Creek, and the lowering of the transbay tube and the excavation of the Market Street subway in downtown San Francisco followed in the late 1960's and beginning of the 1970's. Along Market Street, BART trains run on level -3, while level -2 (once planned for another BART line) is now used by Muni Metro, an urban light rail system.

The first BART cars were ordered from the California based Rohr Industries, with later series being delivered by Soferval (Alsthom) and Morrison-Knudsen. BART is totally grade-separated (no level crossings) and runs in ATO mode without any wayside signalling. It has an unusual track gauge of 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in).

The first stretch opened for public service on 11 September 1972 between Oakland and Fremont. In 2017, the entire network has a total length of 182 km long, with 48 stations serving some 3 million people in the area:

- 26.5 km runs in subways through urban areas (8.9 km in San Francisco; 8.6 km in South San Francisco/San Bruno; 4 km in Oakland; 5 km in Berkeley);
- 5.8 km (7.4 km with approach tunnels) underneath the San Francisco Bay at a maximum depth of 41 m below sea level;
- 5.5 km is the Berkeley Hills tunnel between Rockridge and Orinda;

- 14 stations lie on the San Francisco peninsula, and 30 on the East Bay side;
- 16 stations are underground, 15 elevated and 14 at grade (all fully accessible to the disabled).

The BART system is operated 6 lines:
Blue Line: Dublin/Pleasanton - San Francisco - Daly City
Yellow Line: Pittsburg/Bay Point - San Francisco - San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Orange Line: Richmond - Berryessa/North San José
Red Line: Richmond - San Francisco - Daly City (extended to Millbrae early mornings on weekdays)
Green Line: Berryessa/North San José - San Francisco - Daly City
Purple Line: San Francisco International Airport (SFO) - Millbrae shuttle

Opened on 22 Nov 2014, the "BART to OAK" people mover provides a link between BART's Coliseum station and Oakland International Airport. A ride on the 5.1 km cable propelled system takes 8 minutes, with trains running every 5-20 minutes.

Instead of a proper BART extension, the Pittsburg/Bay Point branch was eventually extended to Antioch (Hillcrest Ave) in spring 2018 using diesel multiple units (DMUs). A change of trains is therefore required at a dedicated platform built some 500m east of the Pittsburg/Bay Point station.

11 Sept 1972 - Oakland (MacArthur) - Fremont (44.8 km, 12 stations)
29 Jan 1973 - Oakland - Richmond (17.6 km, 6 stations)
21 May 1973 - Oakland - Concord (27.2 km, 6 stations)
05 Nov 1973 - San Francisco subway opens between Montgomery St and Daly City (12 km, 8 stations)
16 Sept 1974 - 5.8 km Transbay Tunnel opens (12.8 km, 1 station) and completes 71.5 miles (114.5 km) initial network
27 May 1976 - Embarcadero station added
16 Dec 1995 - Concord - North Concord/Martinez (3.7 km, 1 station)
24 Feb 1996 - Daly City - Colma (2.6 km, 1 station)
07 Dec 1996 - North Concord/Martinez - Pittsburg/Bay Point (12.5 km, 2 stations from Concord)
10 May 1997 - Bay Fair - Dublin/Pleasanton (19.6 km, 2 stations)
22 June 2003 - Colma - San Francisco Int'l Airport and Millbrae (ca. 13 km, 4 stations)
19 Feb 2011 - West Dublin/Pleasanton station added
25 Mar 2017 - Fremont - Warm Springs/South Fremont (7.6 km)
13 Jun 2020 - Warm Springs/South Fremont - Berryessa/North San José (16 km)

26 May 2018 - Pittsburg/Bay Point - Antioch (16 km, non-electrified route)

 BART Projects

After BART reached Berryessa in North San José in 2020, the line will eventually reach San José Diridon Station around 2030 and terminate at Santa Clara, adjacent to the existing Caltrain station.

The Dublin/Pleasanton branch is planned to be extended by 7.7 km east to Livermore (Isabel Ave).

Click here for a station by station gallery!

Click here for a station by station gallery!

- CALTRAIN: 76 km commuter rail line linking San Francisco to San Jose Diridon with some trains being extended south to Tamien or Gilroy. The first electric train ran on 10 Aug 2024 with full electrified service being implemented by 21 Sept 2024.

- SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit): Opened on 25 Aug 2017, this initially 69 km DMU-operated line serves the counties on the north shore of the Bay. Extended to Larkspur on 14 Dec 2019.

BART Silicon Valley > San Jose Extension

San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI Metro)

Caltrain

SMART

California High Speed Rail (Project Website)

San Francisco County Transportation Authority

BART at Wikipedia

San Francisco Transit Page at New York Subway Resources (incl. everything about BART & Muni Metro)

Jon Bell's San Francisco Page incl. photos

Transbay Transit Center (Project Website)

UrbanRail.Net > BART Station by Station Gallery

SUBWAYS & LIGHT RAIL
in the U.S.A.
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