BART to roll all night for Bay Bridge shutdown

People concerned about getting across The Bay when the Bay Bridge is closed over Labor Day weekend will be glad to hear that BART will be running trains around the clock during the closure.

BART officials announced Tuesday they will have an expanded but limited schedule of  trains operating 24 hours a day beginning Wednesday, Aug. 28 through the night of Monday, Sept. 2.

Overnight trains will operate hourly under two-route service at 14 stations. Trains between Concord and San Francisco International Airport will form one line of modified “X” service, with trains between El Cerrito del Norte and Dublin/Pleasanton forming the other line.

BART spokesman Jim Allson told KTVU-TV:

“It creates sort of an X-pattern through The Bay so people can get where they need to go. It’s mainly people who are heading to work who we’re trying to accommodate through this, it’s a lifeline service.”

The added service comes as the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge is closed Wednesday night until a few hours before the new eastern span of the bridge is scheduled to be open for traffic the following Tuesday morning.

Though trains will run all night, not all BART stations will be open.

The 14 stations open during the bridge shutdown are El Cerrito del Norte, Downtown Berkeley, Concord, Walnut Creek, Bay Fair, 12th Street/Oakland City Center, MacArthur, Coliseum/Oakland Airport, Dublin/Pleasanton, Daly City, 24th St. Mission, Powell, Embarcadero and San Francisco International Airport.

BART officials are expecting a big jump in the number of passengers when the bridge is shut down.

BART will run longer trains during the day when the bridge is closed, and will adjust its train service for the large crowds that are expected over the weekend for the Oakland A’s baseball game, the Cal Bears football game and the America’s Cup finals.

During the Labor Day weekend closure of the Bay Bridge in 2009, officials say BART trains carried an additional 230,000 passengers  — a 30 percent increase over the previous Labor Day weekend.