BART riders should expect up to 10-minute delays systemwide this morning after police activity in Oakland slowed the morning commute, a BART official said.
This delay will be in addition to the announcement by BART that it will stop all of its trains system-wide for about one minute at 10:21 a.m. today as it participates in the annual statewide earthquake preparedness event called "The Great California ShakeOut."
Earlier this morning police were at the West Oakland BART station when an unauthorized person was on the tracks. A track inspection was then conducted to make sure no one else was on the tracks, an official said.
The inspection took some time and backed up trains in all directions, resulting in about 10-minute residual delays as of 5:30 a.m., the official said.
With regard to "The Great California ShakeOut," BART Vice President John McPartland said BART workers regularly practice their response to earthquakes and other emergencies, refining it along the way. Today's participation in the ShakeOut will be more of an acknowledgement that the threat of an earthquake is ever present, he said.
"I'm proud to say that BART has been very proactive in preparing for earthquakes," McPartland said. "We launched our Earthquake Safety Program in 2005, thanks to overwhelming public support for a bond measure to help fund the work, and we are on time and under budget."
The Earthquake Safety Program includes retrofitting 74 miles of track, 34 stations and the Transbay Tube to withstand the maximum credible earthquake. Learn more about the Earthquake Safety Program by visiting www.bart.gov/earthquake.
The Hayward fault is of particular concern to BART because the fault line is close to much of the system.
Organizers of the ShakeOut say that it is the largest earthquake drill in the world.
Dolores Fox Ciardelli, Sasha Lekach contributed to this story
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