WRITTEN BY Walter Kawahara

GRAPHIC BY Walter Kawahara

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BART service between Walnut Creek and Concord was restored last Wednesday morning, January 24th, 2024 after a brief disruption lasting between 40 and 50 minutes, according to BART. 

   The disruption occurred when an individual went on the tracks of BART’s Yellow Line at the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station. Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County with a population of about 122,000 people, and is 2.63 miles North of Pleasant Hill. According to BART’s official website, “The Concord BART Station was the ‘end of the line’ until 1995 when the line was extended to Pittsburg/Bay Point,” during a series of BART service expansions that lasted from 1995 to 2003. Walnut Creek, a city of about 69,000 people, is 2.89 miles South of Pleasant Hill. 

   The individual went on the tracks shortly after 8:20 A.M. and the disruption was disclosed by BART around 8:30 A.M. in a social media post. During the disruption, trains heading East were turned around at Walnut Creek, while Westbound trains were turned around at Concord. For the duration of the service disruption, free transportation was provided to BART passengers using Bus 14 of the Concord-based County Connection program, which usually provides fixed route paratransit in central Contra Costa County. The Page reached out to County Connection General Manager Bill Churchill, but he did not provide a comment for the story. 

   The service disruption prompted a police response and BART service was restored approximately 50 minutes after the disruption was announced, between 8:50 and 9:10 A.M. So far, neither the identity of the individual who went on the tracks, nor their state of mind or rationale, was made available to the public. 

   This disruption is just one of a slew of incidents that have plagued the transit system since late November of last year. Notably, BART safety was put into question when, over a two day period from November 30th and December 1st, 2023 three incidents occurred that resulted in one death and several delays lasting over an hour, and, on New Year’s Day of 2024, a train derailment caused a fire and nine injuries. The derailment, BART officials now believe, may have been caused by a “human error”. 

   Concerns over BART-related suicides have also plagued the organization. In April 2015, BART partnered with the Bay Area Suicide and Crisis Intervention Alliance (BASCIA) to address the issue, and BART-related suicides appear to have decreased since. Nevertheless, BART suicides remain an issue in the Bay Area and BART encourages media reporting about possible suicide or suicide attempts to provide resources for those struggling with suicidal thoughts.    If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 for free and confidential support.