Trains.com

BART Richmond line opened 50 years ago today

1220 views
4 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 1,677 posts
BART Richmond line opened 50 years ago today
Posted by Erik_Mag on Sunday, January 29, 2023 4:17 PM

BART's Richmond line (MacArthur station to Richmond) opened 50 years ago today. This was 4 1/2 months after the MacArthur to Fremont section opened.

On that evening, some friends and I took a Fremont train from the main Berkeley station to MacArthur, exited and then re-entered the gates and the rode another Fremont train to Oakland Airport/Coliseum station got off the train and then rode a Richmond train back to the Berkeley station.

Being a new system, the experience was a bit like riding the DisneyLand Monorail, with the electronic ticket machines, the fancy "turnstiles" and the clean cars. Adding to the modern feel was the 310 Hz hum of the smoothing reactors (inductors) used in the chopper supplying the traction motors.

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,285 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 10:23 AM

So how has the line stood the test of time?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 1,677 posts
Posted by Erik_Mag on Thursday, February 2, 2023 10:00 PM

BART's still there and that line is still in use. Wink

Last time I rode BART was in 2002, and noticed that the rails had some -um- interesting wear patterns along with the ride not being as smooth as I remembered. Did most of my riding on the system first year of grad school (1977), with an apartment on the hill overlooking Lake Merrit. It was a short walk to the 19th Street station, followed by a short ride to the main Berkeley station - cheaper than trying to find a parking spot near the Cal campus.

It's providing a useful service, but wonder what the future holds for the SF Bay Area.

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Friday, March 10, 2023 10:44 PM

Erik_Mag

 

On that evening, some friends and I took a Fremont train from the main Berkeley station to MacArthur, exited and then re-entered the gates and the rode another Fremont train to Oakland Airport/Coliseum station got off the train and then rode a Richmond train back to the Berkeley station.

 

 

If you hadn't gone out through the gates at MacArthur, your whole joyride would have only cost you a quarter.

 

Ed

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 1,677 posts
Posted by Erik_Mag on Saturday, March 11, 2023 12:14 AM

7j43k

If you hadn't gone out through the gates at MacArthur, your whole joyride would have only cost you a quarter.

Main Berkeley to MacArthur and vice versa was $0.30, so we spent a total of $0.60. At that time, BART was charging $0.60 for exiting the same station that was entered so we didn't pay any than by not exiting and re-entering at MacArthur. My recollection was that I put $1.00 down for that first ticket. I plunked down $10.00 on my second ticket of which I used all but ~$1.00 and still have it in my desk as a souvenir (checked to see it again while typing this post).

Before BART reduced maximum speed to 70 from 80mph, the start to stop trip between Ashby and Main Berkeley would take 95 seconds and would be doing 80mph for maybe 10 seconds. There would be quite the blast of air at the main Berkeley station just before the train from Ashby would enter the station.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy