SCVTA meeting with FTA to discuss BART extension delays

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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SCVTA announced in February 2018 it pushed back the opening service date for Phase I of its BART Silicon Valley Project.
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The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) said it has identified more challenges than expected during the BART Silicon Valley Project's first phase.  

 

SCVTA and BART plan to meet with the Federal Transit Administration in an effort to address these challenges and review schedule constraints.

Officials said they also plan to review additional resource requirements needed to complete the project. The meeting is meant to establish a revised passenger service date, SCVTA said.

“Setbacks in the current testing phase and insufficient allocation of BART and contractor experts needed to complete the series of required milestones have resulted in additional time before [SCVTA] can turn the project over to BART,” SCVTA said.

Currently, officials expect to complete such milestones and transition work to BART in June, rather than in March. BART would then take over the completed facilities and perform testing and training to integrate the system.

The launch date for passenger service will depend on how long it BART takes to complete its phase of testing, operator training and safety certification, SCVTA said.

Several factors have contributed to the delays, officials said, such as the integration of BART’s aging infrastructure with modern technology provided by SCVTA. Officials said that issue has been compounded by BART’s ongoing changes to its train control system at the Warm Springs/South Fremont Station.

“A breakdown in communication between BART staff and SCVTA’s contractor has also resulted in a backlog of system testing results with discrepancies that need to be resolved,” SCVTA said. “Expert staff resources to resolve the issues are also shorthanded due to BART’s changes at the Warm Springs/South Fremont Station.”

SCVTA said its team and BART remain committed to completing the 10-mile extension and bringing about a safe and reliable commuting resource to and from Santa Clara County.

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