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Sunday Riders: new schedule change impacts Sunday service

On February 11, 2019, BART's new schedule change went into effect impacting Sunday service.

To upgrade the electrical power system in Downtown San Francisco from 8am-6pm, we need to single track trains in San Francisco on some Sundays. Expect 15-20 minute delays when single tracking is taking place from 8am-6:30pm. Expect 20-30 minute delays when crews are moving equipment between 6:30pm and 8:00pm. We will single track from Embarcadero to 24th Street Mission.  During this single tracking we will only have one platform open at Montgomery, Powell, Civic and 16th Street. 

We will maintain 20-minute headways, but impacts include:

  • For the most part, only one line (the Antioch/Yellow Line) will provide service through the Transbay Tube (some direct Red and Green line trains will be part of the schedule at select times).
  • Sunday service changes vary week to week and riders are encouraged to check the Trip Planner or the official BART app before each trip to see the service plan.
  • Dublin/Pleasanton/Blue Line service will operate between Dublin/Pleasanton and MacArthur.
  • All Lake Merritt-Dublin/Warm Springs Transbay riders must transfer at 12th St. Station—go downstairs one level. 
  • All Millbrae riders must transfer to/from a San Francisco/Antioch train at SFO. Travel time for these riders will be exactly the same as it was prior to the schedule change. Previously the train would need to reverse ends and change operators taking several minutes. Now this won't be needed. The shuttle train on the purple line will arrive on the adjacent track at SFO and riders will have a 1-2 minute transfer to/from the Antioch train. Please note that on Sundays we have single tracking the expected 5-10 minutes delays will impact this transfer.

Transfer details

  • Antioch-SFO (Yellow) transfering to Richmond Warm Springs (Orange): No Changes, Timed Meets at MacArthur Southbound and 19th Street Northbound
  • Antioch-SFO (Yellow) transfering to new SFO-Millbrae shuttle (Purple):  All Millbrae (platform 2) passengers will transfer at SFO to/from the Antioch train (platform 1). 2 minute transfer time northbound from Purple to Yellow and 1 minute transfer time southbound from Yellow to Purple
  • Transbay from Dublin/Pleasanton, Warm Springs or OAK: transfer at 12th Street (always go down one level)
  • Dublin/Pleasanton to SF/SFO/Millbrae (platform 1 to platform 2):  7 minute wait
  • SF/SFO/Millbrae to Dublin/Pleasanton (platform 3 to platform 2):  9 minute wait
  • Warm Springs to SF/SFO/Millbrae (platform 1 to platform 2): 18 minute wait**
  • SF/SFO/Millbrae to Warm Springs (platform 3 to platform 2): 5 minute wait
  • Dublin/Pleasanton – Warm Springs would transfer at Bay Fair (unchanged)

**Transfer cannot be optimal in all directions due to numerous constraints.  Schedule is built around single-tracking from Embarcadero to 24th Street. 

Sunday service improvements include:

  • Yellow Line passengers transferring to an East Bay line should transfer at MacArthur and will now have increased service with both a Blue and Orange Line train depending on destination.
  • Additional trains/train length will be added to the Orange/Richmond/Warm Springs service.
  • New direct Red and Green line trains added to the schedule on Sundays at select times.

There are no changes to Saturday service.

Check Before You Go

The new schedule has been loaded into the Trip Planner on bart.gov as well as the official BART app. Select a date Feb. 11th and beyond to see how these changes impact your trip.  

Sunday riders are encouraged to check the Trip Planner or the app before each trip as it varies week by week based on single tracking weekends.

Sunday’s new Red and Green line trains will be reflected in the Trip Planner, and Schedules by Station, Schedules by Line and Real Time Departures. They are not listed in the printed brochures because they vary week by week.

Power Cable Upgrades 

The Sunday service change is to accommodate the replacement of 34.5kV power cables and pipes that power our trains. It’s original hardware dating back to when the system was built. The nitrogen-filled pipes are being replaced with modern shielded cabling using Measure RR funds. 

power cables power cables

The power to run our trains comes from a variety of original sources like solar and natural gas. After we get it from PG&E (but before it gets sent into the electrified third rail), it must be distributed through substations and special cabling at 34.5 kilovolts (kV).  

At BART, much of the cabling technology and substations channeling all this energy is outdated and in a state of age-related disrepair.  The 34.5 kV cables themselves don’t even really resemble what the average person would imagine a cable to be: they’re quite large, and encased within nitrogen-filled pipes about the circumference of a grapefruit. The 34.5 kV cables run through these pipes. 

BART needs to replace these pipes, cables (34.5kv), and substations with modern shielded cabling and new distribution hardware so the power can be properly stepped down and fed into the 1000-volt, electrified third rail.  The third rail is what brings power to the train cars, via conductive metal collector shoes skimming along the third rail’s surface.  

Sunday map