BART ramps up to near pre-pandemic service levels

On Monday, BART service will ramp up to near pre-pandemic levels, including the return of late-night trains.

Closing time will extend to midnight Monday through Saturday, and trains will run more frequently, BART officials said. The new schedule also will see an increase in direct trips to San Francisco International Airport on weekdays.

Although the revised schedule resembles the one before the pandemic, differences include areas that won’t be returning to former levels such as extra commuter trains on the Antioch-SFO (Yellow) line during peak hours, according to BART.

Weekday service will be from 5 a.m. to midnight with 5-line service and 15-minute frequencies on all lines from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be three-line service with 30-minute frequencies from 8 p.m.-midnight.

Saturday service will expand to 6 a.m. to midnight with 5-line service from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and then three-line service from 8 p.m. to midnight. Sunday service will remain 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. with three-line service and 30-minute frequencies to accommodate critical cable replacement and other infrastructure rebuilding work, BART officials said.

The schedule change means BART trains will be in service for a combined 875 hours each weekday, compared with only 498 in-service hours in mid-July — an increase of 76 percent. On Saturdays the change results in 514 combined in-service train hours compared with only 258 the previous month for a 99 percent increase, according to BART.

The BART Trip Planner has been updated with the new schedule and riders can start planning their trips using a date of Aug. 2 and beyond.

More information on the new schedule and map of the BART system is available on the agency’s website here.