eBART groundbreaking

[lpetrich]

Neither Google Maps nor Bing Maps is very up-to-date here, as far as I can tell. So I checked on TerraServer - Aerial Photos & Satellite Images - The Leader In Online Imagery.

It had images near Pittsburg-BayPoint from Feb 29, 2016, and I was able to follow the line eastward from there to Antioch. Most of the right-of-way seemed close to ready for tracks, if not ready for tracks. Some parts of it seemed to already have tracks in it, but it was hard to tell from Terraserver's freebie-images resolution. The Antioch station is a freeway-median station with an island platform, and the tracks continue a bit eastward, going northeastward underneath SR-4's northside lanes. At the end was a shop building and some yard tracks. SR-4's northside and southside lanes also approached each other about there.

[lpetrich]

Local pols get sneak peek at eBART train - San Jose Mercury News, also BART unveils new train for upcoming service to Antioch | bart.gov

From the first article,

With higher ceilings and larger windows, the Swiss-made cars have an airier feel to them than conventional BART models and come with overhead luggage racks.

The vehicles are also slightly narrower and, at 132 feet, longer than their 70-foot cousins.

Each can accommodate up to 200 passengers, with 104 seats and space for 96 people standing. That's about twice the capacity of traditional BART vehicles, which can hold around 110 riders.

This part of BART's system will have 8 of these DMU's.

They are now thinking of starting service in May 2018, though it could start earlier, in winter 2017.

Bringing eBART to East County is a $525 million undertaking, but still less than half the estimated $1.25 billion that it would have cost to extend conventional BART train service, Keller said.

The line will be 10.1 miles long.

[lpetrich]

Its project page now links to these videos:
eBart Transfer Platform Animation - YouTube
Pittsburg Center Animation - YouTube
Antioch Station Walkthrough Animation - YouTube
The Pittsburg and Antioch stations look much like BART's other freeway-median stations, and they use BART's faregates for access.

Checking on Google Maps I find that BART continues as double track east of the existing Bay Point station, with a scissors crossover, two tracks that can hold 10-car trains, and merging at the north side of the median. There is indeed a transfer platform, with BART proper on the north side and eBart on the south side. The BART track splits in two and eBART stays single-track, then the two BART tracks end and the eBART track splits.

Soon after, I hit a seam in BART's coverage, where Google uses somewhat older pictures with less construction apparent in them. Bing Maps is a bit more up-to-date there, but not much. I tried Terraserver, and it was more pleasant than last time, even if rather odd. It shows some out-of-date pictures by default, with an option to select pictures at some dates. The most recent one for the Pittsburg and Antioch stations was November 16, 2016. Selecting that version shows it with "PRODUCT PREVIEW' all over it. But at that date, the Pittsburg and Antioch stations looked like they were largely done.

[lensovet]

neat! kind of forgot that this is still a thing

[lpetrich]

BART prepares to OK fares, parking fees for two new stations (2017 Nov 10) -- no mention of an opening date, however.

East Contra Costa BART Extension (eBART) | bart.gov (2017 Dec 15), at BART's site, does mention fares, but no opening date other than "2018".

[lensovet]

The official FAQ has it though: https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/ecc/faq" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Revenue service is scheduled to begin on May 2018.

[lpetrich]

BART to Antioch Service to kick off with community celebration | bart.gov

The wait is almost over for East County residents. BART to Antioch will open for passenger service on Saturday, May 26, 2018. To celebrate, BART will hold a community ribbon-cutting celebration on Friday, May 25, 2018 at 11am at the new Antioch Station featuring free preview train rides and local entertainment.

[lensovet]

Apparently it opened yesterday, but BART is running a bus shuttle for the duration of the holiday weekend between two stations on the conventional line that links eBART to SF. Funny how in NYC they run extra trains on holidays and in the Bay Area holidays are an opportunity to shut down service to perform maintenance.

Guess I'll go check it out next weekend then.

[andrewjw]

Apparently it opened yesterday, but BART is running a bus shuttle for the duration of the holiday weekend between two stations on the conventional line that links eBART to SF. Funny how in NYC they run extra trains on holidays and in the Bay Area holidays are an opportunity to shut down service to perform maintenance.

Guess I'll go check it out next weekend then.

NYC isn't running any extra trains this weekend. They've shut down the Sixth Avenue, New Lots, and Astoria lines https://subwayweekender.wordpress.com/

[lensovet]

http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet. ... SE_ID=3212" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[andrewjw]

http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet. ... SE_ID=3212

Sorry, when you said NYC I assumed you meant the subways. Nobody in NYC would consider NJT to be "in NYC".

[lensovet]

sure, i was referring to the entire metro area as a whole, since Antioch isn't exactly in SF either…

[lpetrich]

I was rather late in following the opening festivities, but I've found several YouTube videos showing rides on the new line.

It is indeed a cross-platform transfer, with regular BART trains on one side and eBART ones on the other. The stations were typical BART freeway-median stations.

I checked on the schedules at bart.gov, and in the Antioch-SFIA/Millbrae line, eBART and regular BART are treated as seamless, with no distinct transfer station.