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On Monday, April 7, 2025, the south entrance to the Lake Merritt BART Station will be closed for the day to support the construction of affordable housing on the former BART parking lot.

The entrance being closed for the day is at the corner of Oak St. and 8th St. (see map). The elevator at this location will remain open. All other entrances to Lake Merritt Station will remain open.

For more information about the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project, visit:

bart.gov/about/business/tod/lakemerritt 

Starting at 9pm Friday, July 31, through the end of revenue service (midnight) on Sunday, August 2, service will be reduced from two tracks to one between Millbrae, SFO, and San Bruno stations to enable crews to install critical components of a new train control system that will greatly enhance BART’s reliability for decades to come. The work team will be in the track area installing approximately nine miles of cable for our new Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system. This extended 55-hour work window is required to accomplish this major milestone in the project. Reducing service from two tracks to one will ensure the team has a safe workspace.  

Riders should expect delays of 10-15 minutes most of the day, but up to 30 minutes in the work area Saturday night. Platform changes at Millbrae and SFO will also be in effect due to this work. At Millbrae, riders may need to walk a longer distance to transfer to Caltrain. There will be additional staff at both stations as well as wayfinding signage to assist riders. 

This latest work will build on what has been an ongoing effort to install the first leg of BART’s new CBTC system on the Peninsula. The state-of-the-art CBTC system will transform BART service by enabling trains to run closer together. A modernized train control system will enable BART to increase projected transbay capacity to 30 trains per hour per direction in the core system area, up from the current limitation of 24 trains per hour per direction.   

A coordinated network of VTA, BART, and Caltrain, transported more than 37,000 passengers to and from the opening FIFA World Cup match between Qatar and Switzerland, setting a new ridership record for a major event at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.

Following the match, VTA once again surpassed industry expectations by clearing light rail platforms serving the stadium in less than 90 minutes. The benchmark for clearing crowds after a major event at Levi's Stadium (named SF Bay Area Stadium for the FIFA World Cup) is two hours.

"This was a tremendous success for VTA and our regional transit partners," said VTA General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot. "Thousands of fans chose transit to get to and from the match, and together with BART and Caltrain, we provided a seamless travel experience that kept people moving and got them home safely."

A total of 37,642 passengers used VTA service during the event, with post-match crowds exceeding the number of fans who arrived by transit before kickoff. Despite the larger post-game surge, VTA maintained efficient operations and cleared platforms well ahead of the two-hour industry standard. The number is more than 6000 over the transit crowds for Super Bowl LX.

The success was made possible through close coordination among the Bay Area's transit agencies. BART transported passengers from San Francisco and the East Bay to Milpitas Transit Center, where they connected to VTA light rail service for the final trip to the stadium.

“BART saw an increase of more than 160% in ridership at Milpitas Station Saturday compared with the previous weekend,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “We’ve worked with our fellow transit agencies to make transfers fan friendly and now the world is seeing how far the Bay Area’s transit network has come.”

Caltrain carried passengers from San Francisco and communities throughout the Peninsula to Mountain View Transit Center, where riders transferred to VTA light rail trains bound for the stadium.

“Caltrain got nearly 7,000 fans to and from the first World Cup match quickly, safely and conveniently,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard. “With frequent half-hourly service and a great atmosphere onboard with fellow fans, Caltrain is the easiest way to skip traffic, avoid parking costs and get to the World Cup stress-free.” 

Additional trains, coordinated staffing, crowd management measures, and extensive operational planning helped ensure fans experienced a smooth journey throughout the day.

Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and Capitol Corridor also provided service to the stadium. Capitol Corridor handled nearly 2,400 trips to and from the stadium on match day while ACE carried almost 1,600.

The opening match is the first of six FIFA World Cup matches to be played at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium this summer. VTA will continue operating enhanced service throughout the tournament to support residents, visitors, and soccer fans from around the world.

BART ridership broke records in May 2026, including posting the top four ridership days and highest weekday ridership average since the pandemic. Read more. 

BART service was temporarily interrupted this morning between West Oakland and 24th St. Mission stations due to a datacenter hardware failure. The failure temporarily resulted in a loss of visibility from the Operations Control Center and train service in the area was temporarily stopped for just shy of an hour. BART crews quickly identified the root issue and were able to re-route communications to another device, which allowed for the restoration of service. The incident began at approximately 8am and service was restored around 9am. In response to the disruption the SF Bay Ferry added an extra unscheduled ferry trip, and Muni was providing free rides for impacted BART riders.

BART’s safety initiative to remove potentially hazardous trees in advance of severe winter storms will next focus on Contra Costa County. To provide workers with enough room to safely do the work, free buses will replace trains between Pleasant Hill and Concord stations on 2 non-consecutive weekends in October. The work dates are October 14-15 and October 28-29. Riders in the area should anticipate delays of up to 30 minutes on work weekends. Riders in the area on work weekends will have to get off their train at either Pleasant Hill or Concord and then board a free bus provided by County Connection to the next station in their direction of travel to continue their trip.

San Francisco-bound riders who want to avoid the bus bridge should start their trips at Pleasant Hill. On each night of the weekend shutdowns the last scheduled departure from Antioch to Concord that normally leaves at 11:48 pm will be cancelled. Riders traveling westbound from Antioch must catch the earlier train at 11:28 pm each night.

BART will make the most of the time when this segment of the system will be closed by also working on trackway improvements. You can learn more about BART’s safety initiative to remove potentially dangerous trees on the project page.

You can keep up with the latest updates for trackway repair projects that impact service by going to our Alerts and Advisories page. BART’s Trip Planner has been improved to show the full customer journey including bus bridges. You can also check Real Time Departures for your station of choice.

12:45pm update: The extended single tracking from MacArthur to Richmond stations has been cancelled and the unplanned trackside equipment problem has been resolved. BART is still single tracking as planned between Downtown Berkeley and El Cerrito Plaza stations to allow City of Albany workers to safely manage vegetation near the BART tracks. 

9:30am update: The single tracking area has been extended to MacArthur to Richmond due to an unplanned trackside equipment problem. We are also requiring a transfer at MacArthur to complete your Orange line trip.  This is causing longer delays of up to one hour.  We are very sorry. 

On Sunday, September 28, BART will reduce service from two tracks to one between Downtown Berkeley and El Cerrito Plaza stations to allow City of Albany workers to safely manage vegetation near the BART tracks. The work will happen from 7am through 8pm. Riders in the area should anticipate delays of 20-25 minutes. There will also be no Red Line service for the day. 

Transbay riders leaving Richmond can instead take an Orange Line-Berryessa bound train and transfer at MacArthur Station to a Yellow Line-San Francisco bound train. Peninsula riders wanting to go to Richmond can take a Yellow Line-Antioch bound train and transfer at MacArthur to an Orange Line-Richmond bound train.

For service to and from Millbrae Station, a train will run between Millbrae and SFO stations, requiring a transfer to complete your trip.

*This notice was posted on September 12, 2025.

The installation of Next Generation Fare Gates is scheduled to begin February 21 at Lafayette Station. The installation process is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete for each of the station’s two sets of gates. 

The opposite set of gates will remain in service during the installation. The work will not impact train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours.

The latest work comes after BART has successfully installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 18 other stations across the system. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gate project here.

Following robust public outreach and technical and business case analysis, the BART Board of Directors voted to advance the Link 21 Program as a standard-gauge rail project that is part of the California State Rail Plan and a series of projects to be advanced by the state, while seeking federal funding. It will also be considered by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) Board on June 18, 2025. 

At the core of Link21 is a new transbay passenger train crossing between Oakland and San Francisco that would transform train travel options in the Northern California Megaregion. The decision to use standard-gauge tracks like most other inner-city and regional rail systems across the county, as opposed to BART’s unique broad-gauge tracks, will complement the state’s vision for a connected train network throughout the Bay Area, the northern California Megaregion, and ultimately the entire state.  Standard-gauge can accommodate modern, zero-emission passenger trains and the new crossing will improve regional rail connections and build upon ongoing rail investments across Northern California. It also opens the door to compete for the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID Program to plan and fund future intercity passenger rail projects.

The day-to-day management of the Link21 Project will now be managed by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), in coordination with the State Transportation Agency. BART staff will continue to provide support, as will the other standard-gauge rail operators who could potentially operate through the new crossing, and other train facility owners throughout the Megaregion. 

“This change will help ensure effective coordination and maintain momentum as the program moves into its next phase,” said Rob Padgette, Managing Director of CCJPA. “As the project progresses, CCJPA, BART, and other key stakeholders will continue to collaborate to make sure Link21 contributes to the region’s long-term transportation and climate goals.”

Over the next several years, stakeholders will move forward with defining a Proposed Project for the new standard-gauge rail crossing between Oakland and San Francisco and advancing the environmental review, including identifying alternatives and outreach. A funding plan will be developed in concert with the state and federal government to advance Link21 and other related projects through the Corridor ID Program. 

The Link21 Program is a generational transportation initiative that is called for in two separate Bay Area regional measures (Regional Measure 3 and BART Measure RR), the San Francisco Bay Area (Bay Area) long-term transportation plan (Plan Bay Area 2050), and the California State Rail Plan. This project is designed to enhance the passenger experience, expand rail capacity, and contribute to the overall economic and environmental health of the Northern California Megaregion.