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BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a modern rapid rail system (30 km underground in downtown San Francisco Oakland and Berkeley) which crosses the Bay in a 5.8 km long immersed-tube tunnel and serves surrounding cities like Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo. Its construction began in 1964 between Concord and Walnut Creek, and the lowering of the transbay tube and the excavation of the Market Street subway in downtown San Francisco followed in the late 1960's and beginning of the 1970's. Along Market Street, BART trains run on level -3, while level -2 (once planned for another BART line) is now used by Muni Metro, an urban light rail system.

The first BART cars were ordered from the California based Rohr Industries, with later series being delivered by Soferval (Alsthom) and Morrison-Knudsen. BART is totally grade-separated (no level crossings) and runs in ATO mode without any wayside signalling.

The first stretch opened for public service on 11 September 1972 between Oakland and Fremont. In 2008, the entire network has a total length of 159 km long, with 43 stations serving some 3 million people in the area:

- 26.5 km runs in subways through urban areas (8.9 km in San Francisco; 8.6 km in South San Francisco/San Bruno; 4 km in Oakland; 5 km in Berkeley);
- 5.8 km (7.4 km with approach tunnels) underneath the San Francisco Bay at a maximum depth of 41 m below sea level;
- 5.5 km is the Berkeley Hills tunnel between Rockridge and Orinda;

- 14 stations lie on the San Francisco peninsula, and 29 on the East Bay side;
- 16 stations are underground, 14 elevated and 13 at grade (all fully accessible to the disabled).

The BART system is operated with three all-day lines:
Blue Line: Dublin/Pleasanton - San Francisco - Daly City (extended to Millbrae in the evenings and weekends)
Yellow Line: Pittsburg/Bay Point - San Francisco - San Francisco International Airport
Orange Line: Richmond - Fremont

During daytime service (Mon-Sat, until approx. 19:00) two additional lines are operated:
Red Line: Richmond - San Francisco - Millbrae (Richmond - Daly City on Saturdays during daytime service)
Green Line: Fremont - San Francisco - Daly City

11 Sept 1972 - Oakland (MacArthur) - Fremont (44.8 km, 12 stations)
29 Jan 1973 - Oakland - Richmond (17.6 km, 6 stations)
21 May 1973 - Oakland - Concord (27.2 km, 6 stations)
05 Nov 1973 - San Francisco subway opens between Montgomery St and Daly City (12 km, 8 stations)
16 Sept 1974 - 5.8 km Transbay Tunnel opens (12.8 km, 1 station) and completes 71.5 miles (114.5 km) initial network
27 May 1976 - Embarcadero station added
16 Dec 1995 - Concord - North Concord/Martinez (3.7 km, 1 station)
24 Feb 1996 - Daly City - Colma (2.6 km, 1 station)
07 Dec 1996 - North Concord/Martinez - Pittsburg/Bay Point (12.5 km, 2 stations from Concord)
10 May 1997 - Bay Fair - Dublin/Pleasanton (19.6 km, 2 stations)
22 June 2003 - Colma - San Francisco Int'l Airport and Millbrae (ca. 13 km, 4 stations)

 BART Projects

An additional station has been under construction at West Dublin/Pleasanton since Sept. 2006, for completion in 2009.

Since Oct. 2009, an extension has been under construction on the Fremont leg to Warm Springs (7.6 km), with an intermediate station at Irvington. This line will eventually reach San José via Milpitas and terminate at Santa Clara.

Click here for a station by station gallery!

-OPERATION

04:00 - 24:00 Mon-Fri, 6:00 - 24:00 Sat, 8:00 - 24:00 Sun;

On weekdays, trains run every 15 minutes on all branches, which results in a 4-minute headway on the transbay link between Oakland and San Francisco (3 minutes during rush hours).

-FARES

Single Fare: $1.50 - $8.00 on BART, according to distance

BART stored value tickets (Blue High Value) are available for $48 and $64, offering a certain discount.

Click here for a station by station gallery!

Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Official Site) incl. map

San Francisco Municipal Railway Home Page

San Francisco Transit Page at New York Subway Resources (incl. everything about BART & Muni Metro)

Bay Area Rail Transit by Loren Petrich

Jon Bell's San Francisco Page incl. photos

BART Station by Station Gallery

More BART & MUNI Photos

San Francisco Cityscape (incl. many bay area rail maps)