BART told riders to expect “major delays system-wide” until trains stop running Friday after an electrical problem in the Transbay Tube early in the morning snarled the transit agency’s operations and at one point stranded a train inside the tube with about 200 people aboard.
The train was stuck in the in the Transbay Tube for just over an hour between the Embarcadero and West Oakland stations after a power issue forced the transit agency to power down one of the rails, officials said Friday morning.
The disabled train, which was headed towards San Francisco, was stranded on the powered-down rail when the issue began just before 7:15 Friday morning.
At 8:35 a.m., another train moved it back to West Oakland, BART spokesperson Cheryl Stalter said, where everyone was off-boarded at the station.
This issue began when an electrical overcurrent tripped a breaker, which took a rail in the tube out of service, officials said. Crews were working to determine the root cause of the problem.
Officials added that they would not be able to fix the issue until after service ended on Friday night, becaues it requires BART to stop all service in the tube for crew safety.
BART was expected to still operate only one rail for the yellow and blue lines through the tube through the end of service on Friday, with major delays all day on multiple lines as a result, BART officials said. The red and green lines through the tube were canceled for the day.
A service advisory on Friday encouraged people to “seek alternate forms of transportation.” AC Transit was offering free rides on transbay lines, while officials recommended Muni for trips within San Francisco and ferry service across the Bay.
It was the second time in less than a week that equipment problems in the tube have disrupted service.
On Sunday, service was restored after about two hours. Officials did not say what caused the problem at that time.
The issues arose as the transit agency attempts to celebrate its 50th anniversary while it faces its biggest ridership decline in five decades of operation, prompted by the pandemic, that has put its financial future in question.
Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev