SCVTA: BART Silicon Valley Extension enters final stretch of Phase 1

Written by Maggie Lancaster, assistant editor
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Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) has entered what it calls the "final and most complicated stretch of" the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Extension project.

The extension, which broke ground in April 2012, will bring BART from South Fremont into Milpitas and San Jose. SCVTA’s Phase 1 team has constructed 10 miles of track, two BART stations and campuses and roadway improvements to the fully separate system for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. SCVTA says the project has remained more than six months ahead of schedule for the majority of the last five years of construction. The project is expected to finish before its estimated completion date of June 2018.

SCVTA and BART compiled a sequence of events that are dependent on completion in order to open for passenger service. These milestones as listed by SCVTA include:

  1. Station Construction: Complete landscaping, station interiors and exteriors
  2. Static Testing: Perform all communications, track and signal tests
  3. Dynamic Testing: Test train movements along 10-mile extension
  4. Integration Testing: Integrate 10-mile extension with the existing BART system
  5. Safety Certification: Certify the safety and reliability of the integrated 10-mile extension
  6. Passenger Service!

Following the completion of station construction, which is expected to finish this year, SCVTA will perform static testing, which includes all track, communications and signal tests along the trackway, in the six train control facilities, and within the two stations. Next, SCVTA says it will perform dynamic testing, where train movements will be tested along the 10-mile extension, from Fremont to San Jose. This phase of testing will be visible to the public as multi-car trains will travel along the 10-mile extension to simulate BART service.

Following its testing, SCVTA says will turn the project over to BART so that BART may perform integration testing and train its operators on the new 10-mile extension. Finally, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is the agency that oversees the safety certification of rail transit systems in California. Under CPUC oversight, all systems are certified to ensure they are correctly designed, constructed, installed and operating as intended. Once these certifications are in place, and the CPUC is satisfied with the process, BART may begin passenger service on the new 10-mile extension. After passenger service begins, BART will be responsible for operations and maintenance of the system, and the CPUC will continue oversight of the system operations.

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