BART announces track shutdown; free buses replace trains between South Hayward, Union City on 10 weekends in 2022
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has begun a large construction project in southern Alameda County.
Crews are replacing critical trackway components between the South Hayward and Union City BART Stations as well as advancing preliminary work to create a new storage facility at the Hayward Maintenance Complex for hundreds of Fleet of the Future cars.
Crews made significant progress on upgrading the BART trackway between South Hayward and Union City in 2021. Accomplishments of the BART work team include:
- Laid 1,500 feet of new rail;
- Replaced outdated wooden rail ties with 300 more reliable concrete versions;
- Placed 400 tons of new rock ballast to improve track stability; and,
- Installed 670 feet of electric third rail to enhance power reliability for trains.
Upcoming construction will build off last year’s successfully completed work. The project will require a series of weekend track shutdowns between South Hayward and Union City. On those weekends, free buses instead of trains will carry passengers between those two stations. There will be no train service between South Hayward and Union City on the following weekends:
- April 16-17
- April 30-May 1
- May 14-15
- May 28-30 (Memorial Day weekend)
- June 11-12
- July 16-17
- July 30-31
- August 13-14
- September 3-5 (Labor Day weekend)
- September 10-11
On all these weekends free buses will replace trains and riders should plan to add 20-25 minutes to their trips. Bicycles are welcome on the bus bridge. AC Transit buses typically have a capacity of three bicycles per bus. The work will require some late-night train cancellations on shutdown weekends.
BART is targeting stretches of trackway in the system that are in the greatest need of replacement and prioritizing work on those sections. This critical work will replace nearly 50-year-old track infrastructure. Many of these aging track components have been in operation since the beginning of BART service in 1972 and have outlived their design lives.
Funding for the track replacement work is coming from voter-approved Measure RR. Funding for the new rail car storage facility is provided in part by a $1.17 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration. The storage facility is part of the Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program, which will increase the number of trains BART can run through the Transbay Tube.
Neighbors can expect construction on or near trackway and the operation of construction equipment with lights on at nights throughout the duration of the work. Part of the project will involve the construction of a retaining wall. The equipment used for this part of the project installs the piles for the wall by vibrating the piles into the ground. This has the potential to create significant noise at the work site.
Once complete, riders can expect a decrease in the noise level from trains. BART passengers should experience a smoother, safer and more reliable ride. The new rail car facility will bolster BART’s service to San Jose as well as help to ensure BART is maximizing the number of Fleet of the Future trains in operation.
Work on trackway improvements and the Hayward Maintenance Complex will continue into next year with a series of weekend track shutdowns expected between Union City and Fremont in 2023. Dates for those shutdowns have not yet been finalized.
