All BART trains stopped, computer networking problem

By Allie Rasmus and James Torrez

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KTVU) - All BART trains stopped running early Friday morning due to a computer networking problem, sending crews to scramble to fix the issue and passengers to find other ways to get home, work, and the airport. 

"This is not a delay," KTVU traffic reporter Sal Castaneda said. "This means no trains." 

BART posted on its social media pages around 4:25 a.m. that it was dealing with the issue, leading to the system-wide shutdown.

In an interview, BART spokesman Chris Filippi said he didn't know exactly what was causing the problem and he wasn't sure the trains would be up and running for the morning commute. 

"It's frustrating for folks," he said candidly. "And we know we're disappointing a lot of folks. We apologize for that. This is an anomaly for us, but we know that it doesn't help people today." 

He urged people to find alternative methods of transportation while crews troubleshoot what the problem is. 

The news sent passengers scrambling.

At about 5:15 a.m., Sean and Irie Siegert turned around from the BART station in Walnut Creek and jumped into an Uber to get to the airport. 

"He gasped, very loud," Irie Siegert said. "I've never seen this before."

Sean Siegert said it would have been nice to get a notification before he left his house. 

"This is going to be a huge monkey wrench on my day, for sure," he said. 

Brad Powell said he was heading to take a test for a job, which he might not get now.

"I could lose a job over it," he said. 

Paul Lew said he took a bus from Vallejo to Walnut Creek and then took BART to Oakland. After all that, he had to take the bus back home to start his commute all over again.

He planned to take AC Transit into Oakland, and he prayed that the BART trains would be running by the time he got to El Cerrito. 

Others said they were just going to turn around and go home. 

Justin Levias was one of those passengers. He was trying to get from the Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco to Richmond and was prepared to spend $50 on Uber. 

"I gotta pay money to get home," he said. "I gotta do what I gotta do." 

Omar Rogers said he was thinking of calling it a day, before his day even began.

"Ugh man," he said. "I'm ready to just call in and say I'm not coming into work."