BART brings 3 new traction power substations online

"Traction power substations are the backbone of the BART system," said Myat San, BART's chief infrastructure officer, in a press release. "Every train depends on them to receive the power needed to operate safely and reliably. The recently energized substations increase capacity, improve redundancy, and makes our electrical network more resilient, which helps us provide dependable service now and prepare the system for the future." The three stations are in downtown San Francisco, at Civic Center/UN Plaza Station, Montgomery St. Station and near the Oakland entrance to the Transbay Tube. They allow power to be supplied from multiple locations if another substation is taken out of service, BART officials said. The substations also increase available power capacity by approximately 20% over baseline, improve voltage performance and reduce stress on older electrical equipment during periods of heavy demand. The increase in available power will allow BART to run additional trains through the Transbay Tube as part of BART’s Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program (TCCCP). TCCCP calls for construction of a total of six substations, including the three new downtown San Francisco substations. Construction on three additional substations in Richmond, Concord and Oakland is expected to begin within the next year. The majority of the funding for the new substations comes from voter-approved Measure RR funds, which allowed the agency to issue general obligation bonds to pay for major system repairs, with additional contributions from TCCCP, the Federal Transit Administration and BART funds.