BART investigation yields some details on East Bay train derailment

ORINDA – The section of track near the Orinda BART station where an eight-car train partially derailed on New Year’s Day had been recently replaced and was in “good operating order” when the incident occurred, according to the transit agency.

That detail and others were included in a Wednesday update to BART’s investigation into the incident, which left nine riders injured.

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Around 8:45 a.m. Monday, the computer system that monitors and manages BART tracks lost communication with the section near the Orinda station, the agency said. The section included an interlocking, which allows a train to change tracks.

BART’s Operations Control Center instructed the operator of the Antioch-bound train to manually align the route at the interlocking, according to the agency. The operator then left the train cab to align the route, which was supposed to be set to send trains straight through.

The operator confirmed the alignment with the center and was told to drive the train in manual mode through the area, according to the agency. Once the train was moving, however, the operator reported that it was crossing over to a different track.

The center then instructed the operator to drive the train in the other direction to clear the area and correctly align the route for straight-through movement, BART said.

That’s when two train cars derailed under “slow speed,” resulting in electrical arcing, smoke and flames, according to the agency. At 9:05 a.m., the operator told the center they believed the train had derailed.

BART said the operator walked through the train to tell riders to evacuate. By that time, some had already used an emergency door release to exit the train. An estimated 100 to 150 riders were safely evacuated by 9:23 a.m., according to the agency.

BART officials did not specify the nature of the injuries to the nine people or provide an update on their conditions Wednesday.

An effort is underway to modernize BART’s train control system and the section of track, including the interlocking, “was recently replaced and was in good operating order,” BART said.

The investigation is continuing. BART has 60 calendar days from the date of the incident to provide a report to the California Public Utilities Commission. Until the CPUC accepts and closes the report, the incident will be considered “under investigation,” and the report will not be available to the public, according to the agency.

This is a developing report. Check back for updates.