Traction Power Substation Replacement San Leandro Station Update

In January, we temporarily closed some parking spaces at the San Leandro Station while we replace the traction power substation located there. These spaces are located under the BART tracks on the north side of the station near Davis Street. Please see below or click here for a map. The affected spaces are numbers 524-52 and 631-48 and will be posted with no parking signs 72 hours ahead of closure. The work will take approximately 14 months to complete. 

On Sunday, April 28, we will close the entire lot nearest the substation off of Davis Street to allow a crane to remove the old transformers from the substation. The work should start at 6:30am and take approximately 4 hours. 

We are installing a new traction power substations throughout the system as part of our Measure RR rebuilding efforts and strategies to increase capacity on the system. New substations, along with upgrades to our train control system and a new fleet of rail cars will allow BART to increase peak capacity by 30% through the Transbay Tube. While we currently run 24 trains per hour in each direction through the Transbay Tube, these planned improvements will enable us to increase to 30 trains per hour.
The new substations are part of our effort to upgrade the whole power supply system (conduit, cables (34.5kv), and substations) with modern shielded cabling and new distribution hardware so the power can be properly stepped down and fed into the 1000-volt, electrified third rail. The third rail is what brings power to the train cars, via conductive metal collector shoes skimming along the third rail’s surface.

We understand that this will be an inconvenience for you. We appreciate your patience.