Rockridge BART Station Evacuated, Causing Delays

By Bay City News

The Rockridge BART station was evacuated this morning because of a disabled train with a brake problem that created smoke.

The disabled train blocked the tracks in the Berkeley tunnel between the Rockridge and Orinda stations, causing major delays, a BART employee said.

Both stations were briefly closed until the train got moving again at 9:30 a.m. under its own power.

The train was driven to the Rockridge station where the more than 600 passengers were let off.

Medical crews treated 11 people at the station, including two who had difficulty breathing.

The problem started at about 8:20 a.m. and involved a San Francisco-bound train, the employee said.

BART officials said a parking brake deployed in error, creating the smoke. There was no fire.

Trains had to single-track around the disabled train while the situation was resolved, the employee said.