BART Transbay Tube enhancement to allow 30% capacity increase in the future (Oakland: maintenance, train)

[OyCrumbler]

https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/substations

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/...center-station


I always thought the lowest limiting factor / bottleneck for BART was actual track capacity which is an incredibly difficult task to improve before needing heaps more money to build more tracks. That usually has for most agencies meant topping out at around 30 trains per hour though some have been able to achieve 40 trains per hour in regular operation. BART has instead been achieving a maximum of 23 trains per hour.Apparently, the bottleneck was actually not enough power from substations which seems bizarre to me that somethingrather easily remediable has taken this long to fix or wasn't already part of its operations from the outset when BART opened in the 70s.


Anyhow, I guess this is good news.

[sav858]

It’s actually more the train control system that needs to be upgraded that was more the limiting factor.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/substations

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/...center-station


I always thought the lowest limiting factor / bottleneck for BART was actual track capacity which is an incredibly difficult task to improve before needing heaps more money to build more tracks. That usually has for most agencies meant topping out at around 30 trains per hour though some have been able to achieve 40 trains per hour in regular operation. BART has instead been achieving a maximum of 23 trains per hour.Apparently, the bottleneck was actually not enough power from substations which seems bizarre to me that somethingrather easily remediable has taken this long to fix or wasn't already part of its operations from the outset when BART opened in the 70s.


Anyhow, I guess this is good news.

. I wonder if BART's sister system in the DC area has these problems, is similarly overcrowded, and so on. Maybe it's better funded, IDK, but I think a comparison of the two systems could be interesting.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by sav858

It’s actually more the train control system that needs to be upgraded that was more the limiting factor.

Are they doing train control system upgrade with the power substation upgrades? Supposedly it's after these power substation upgrades that BART will be going from 23 tph to 30 tph.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

. I wonder if BART's sister system in the DC area has these problems, is similarly overcrowded, and so on. Maybe it's better funded, IDK, but I think a comparison of the two systems could be interesting.

The DC system has had issues with funding for maintenance, but has been pretty well-funded (for the US) in terms of expansions and capital improvements, so it's now quite a bit larger than BART in regards to stations and ridership. The system's also a lot more extensive especially in the downtown area though there isn't really the large light rail system to supplement it as there is in SF with Muni Metro. Basically, both BART and Washington Metro are sort of commuter rail/rapid transit hybrids often using interlining of multiple services from different branches along large stretches to act as rapid transit especially along the more densely populated parts of the urban area, but Washington Metro currently is heavier on the rapid transit side of the hybrid than the commuter rail side compared to BART which partially accounts for the higher ridership and more stations despite having similar total system length.

The DC area is also now considering greatly upgrading its actual commuter rail services to do through-running so that it, too, can potentially work as a hybrid system, though it's unclear if the respective agencies will actually cooperate to that extent. I think this would make sense for the Bay Area as well with Caltrain, ACE, and maybe eventually Capitol Corridor and ACE especially if there was another Transbay crossing.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Are they doing train control system upgrade with the power substation upgrades? Supposedly it's after these power substation upgrades that BART will be going from 23 tph to 30 tph.

Yes, it's all BART of the bigger Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program. They need to new train control system to run trains closer together.

https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/corecapacity

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

. I wonder if BART's sister system in the DC area has these problems.

DC's Metro has a second way over the Potomac on the 14th St Bridge. There's a similar issue of crowding though at the primary route into the city at the Rosslyn tunnel. That tunnel is much shorter but what happens there (at least pre-COVID) is the trains spend time hanging out in the Rosslyn station waiting for tunnel capacity to open up.

I commuted for awhile from Rosslyn to Foggy Bottom, which would be like West Oakland to Embarcadero, and the trip was more painful than it should have been given the shorter distance. Once you get into the Transbay you're hauling at 65-70 mph. It DC you're stop and go under the Potomac.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/metro-lo...lyn-congestion