BART – BayRail Alliance

Why didn’t we get BART through San Mateo County in the 1960’s when it was cheaper.

People blame the politicans for this "mistake", but hindsight is 20/20. You need to put the decision in perspective. The truth is the fact the San Mateo Co Board of Supervisors decided not to put BART on the Ballot--a decision that probably saved BART's life!!! In fact the Board of…

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by admin by admin

Why does BART use wider, non-standard guage rails?

Nearly every other rail system in the US uses 4' 8.5" rails, why does BART use 5'6" rails? This seems a negative as it means it can't share tracks on any other railroads in the US, can't be used to ship freight or use low cost off-the-shelf rail vehicle or…

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by admin by admin

Why not replace Caltrain with BART? Won’t that cost the same as electrifying Caltrain?

The quick answer is no. BART requires separate tracks and infrastructure (because it runs on non-standard gauge tracks). To replace Caltrain with BART, all the Caltrain infrastructure would have to be removed and rail service would have to be shut down rail service for years during the construction period. Replacing…

Posted on March 21, 2013March 27, 2013 by admin by admin

Why Can’t BART run all night?

There are two reasons why BART doesn't run all night. The first is that BART like most other rail systems does its maintenance work on the rails in the wee hours of the morning. The second reason is that it is expensive to provide this service when there aren't a…

The Bay Area's Voice for Rapid Rail

FAQ Tag: BART

Why didn’t we get BART through San Mateo County in the 1960’s when it was cheaper.

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by admin by admin

Why does BART use wider, non-standard guage rails?

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by admin by admin

Why not replace Caltrain with BART? Won’t that cost the same as electrifying Caltrain?

Posted on March 21, 2013March 27, 2013 by admin by admin

Why Can’t BART run all night?

Posted on March 21, 2013March 25, 2013 by admin by admin