| eBART | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Stadler GTW near Pittsburg Center station, May 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other name | East Contra Costa County BART extension | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Bay Area Rapid Transit District | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | EastContra Costa County | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Hybrid rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | Bay Area Rapid Transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depot(s) | Antioch Maintenance Yard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | 8Stadler GTW | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daily ridership | 4,900 (weekdays, Q2 2025)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ridership | 1,286,400 (2024)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | May 26, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-05-26)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 9.1 miles (14.6 km)[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Grade separated inhighwaymedian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | Up to 75 mph (121 km/h)[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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eBART (East Contra Costa County BART extension)[6][7] is ahybrid rail (light rail with some features similar tocommuter rail)branch line of theBay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in easternContra Costa County, California, United States. The line extends theYellow Line beyondPittsburg/Bay Point station toAntioch station. TheAmerican Public Transportation Association classifies the service ascommuter rail.[8]
Thebreak of gauge and the use of diesel power makes the eBART system separate from and incompatible with the main BARTrapid transit system.[9] Passengers make across-platform transfer at an auxiliaryisland platform 0.6 miles (0.97 km) east of Pittsburg/Bay Point station. From this platform, the extension proceeds 9.1 miles (14.6 km)[4] east in theState Route 4median to the city ofAntioch[10] at aHillcrest Avenue station. The BART map treats this service and the service using standard BART trains as a single line, dubbed theYellow Line.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: Commentary and criticism on decisions to use different gauge and rolling stock, placement in freeway median, and funding of Pittsburg Center station. You can help byadding to it.(January 2018) |
A feasibility study which completed in 2001 proposed an extension of BART service into eastern Contra Costa County usingdiesel multiple units (DMU) on standard gauge track in an existing rail right-of-way, to reduce costs compared to full BART service (grade-separated broad-gauge track).[11]: 2.1 It was estimated the cost of extending conventional BART would be up to 21⁄2 times the cost of an equivalent service using DMUs over the same distance.[12] Because commercially available DMUs could not meetFederal Railroad Administration crash standards, they would need to be separated from freight rail, either by operating on an exclusive set of tracks or at exclusive times during the day.[11]: 2.2 A key requirement of the extension ensured that broad-gauge BART could be constructed in the future using the new structures that would be built.[11]: 2.1
Initial plans published in 2002 proposed DMU trains would run in the median ofCalifornia State Route 4 east of the existing terminus at Pittsburg/Bay Point in an area reserved for BART expansion, then the tracks would cross the freeway via an aerial structure at Loveridge Road in Pittsburg to continue east along theUnion Pacific Railroadright-of-way (ROW) for its Tracy Subdivision, also known as the Mococo Line (after the MOuntain COpper COmpany), which runs parallel to and between SR 4 (to the south) and theBNSFStockton Subdivision (to the north) fromMartinez toOakley.[11]: 2.2 [13] At Oakley, eBART would turn southeast, continuing to follow the ROW of the UPRR Tracy Subdivision, terminating atByron.[14] The existing freight rail line would be relocated within the right-of-way to accommodate double-track eBART service.[11]: 2.2 At the time, the Mococo Line was largely inactive, used to store freight cars.[13]
The initial proposal also planned to build five stations over a system length of 23 mi (37 km), each located near where the Mococo Line crosses the following streets:[11]: 2.3, 2.4
By 2005, a sixth station had been added in Pittsburg (at Railroad Avenue, in the median of SR 4)[19] and the Somersville Road station had been relocated east to the Antioch Fairgrounds[15] near L Street.[20][21]
After Union Pacific declined to granttrackage rights or allow laying of new tracks,[22] the planned route was merged with a construction project already in progress for SR 4, with tracks to continue east of Loveridge in itsmedian.[23] UP declared it needed the Mococo Line to relieve freight traffic on theMartinez Subdivision.[13] The SR 4 Bypass project widened the freeway and extended it to the east by adding a bypass for local streets in Brentwood and Antioch.[24][25] By the time the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) for eBART was published in 2008, the initial proposed phase had been scaled back to two stations, retaining an intermediate stop in Pittsburg (Railroad Ave) and shifting the planned terminus to Antioch (Hillcrest Ave), along with a transfer platform near the existing Pittsburg/Bay Point station;[26] the DEIR also included alternative locations for the Phase I terminal station in Antioch (Hillcrest Ave), which would preserve plans for a planned extension east and south from Antioch along the Mococo Line right-of-way.[26]: 2.23
Daily ridership was initially projected at 3,900[26]: 2.34 to 5,600[27] entrances and exits per weekday, assuming an opening date of 2015, rising to 10,100 by 2030, with planned serviceheadways of 15 minutes. Total travel time would be 13 minutes from the transfer platform to Antioch (Hillcrest), including a 3 minute dwell at the transfer platform and a 1 minute stop at Pittsburg (Railroad Ave).[26]: 2.34, 2.35 It was estimated that a single DMU rail car has a fuel consumption of 1.38 mpg‑US (170 l/100 km).[28]: 3.15-9
Alternatives studied includedbus rapid transit using dedicated lanes, overhead (catenary) electriclight rail vehicles, and standard BART trains.[29] Compared to the proposed $486 million cost to implement eBART with DMUs, a similar BRT service would cost $393–611 M, depending on the options selected; LRV $528 M; and BART $1173 M.[29]: 5.21, 5.28, 5.35
Asales tax increase was approved by Contra Costa voters in 2004 in order to fund the expansion.[30] The expansion was approved by the BART board in April 2009.[31] Costs were set at $463 million (equivalent to $679 million in 2024), compared to an estimated $1.2 billion (equivalent to $1.76 billion in 2024) for full BART buildout.[10] On October 14, 2010, BART issued a press release announcing that the agency had awarded a $26 million (equivalent to $37.5 million in 2024) contract to West Bay Builders, ofNovato, "to build the transfer platform and make some of the necessary rail improvements to begin extending the line to a terminus station at Hillcrest Avenue in Antioch."[32]
Construction on the line began in early 2011.[7] Construction of theRailroad Avenue station inPittsburg had been uncertain as planning and construction progressed but it was fully funded by the city in early 2015,[33] and opened in 2018 along with the rest of the extension.
Revenue service began on May 26, 2018.[3] The new stations reached 7,441 daily customer entrances and exits within the first three workdays, while ridership and parking levels at the previous terminal, Pittsburg/Bay Point, declined.[27] Its design and operation, the result of several compromises, were criticized byStreetsblog.[34]
While not fully planned or funded as of 2018[update], proposals have been advanced to extend the eBART line toOakley,Byron,[23] or the Brentwood Transit Center inBrentwood.[35] During the planning phase for Antioch station, it was noted that any potential extension along the median ofSR 4[22] is feasible only to Balfour Road in Brentwood without further widening of the freeway; by acquiring a right-of-way adjacent to the Mococo Line, service could be extended to Laurel Road in Brentwood.[36]
In 2017, the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission indicated that eBART could be extended toTracy, where it would connect with theAltamont Corridor Express and the proposedValley Link line.[37] An extension to Tracy is possible only if rights to share the Mococo Line right-of-way are acquired from UPRR. This would create a transit loop connecting the current eastern termini of the BART Yellow (Pittsburg/Bay Point) and Blue (Dublin/Pleasanton) lines.[36]
All eBART stations are inContra Costa County.
| Station | City | Opened | Other BART lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antioch | Antioch | May 26, 2018 | |
| Pittsburg Center | Pittsburg | ||
| Pittsburg/Bay Point | December 7, 1996 |  Yellow Line |
Trains servicing the line include eightStadler GTW coupled pairs. The first were delivered in June 2016,[5] and the agency has two options to procure six more sets.[38] The Stadler GTW trains arediesel multiple units with 2/6 articulated power units, and are based on models previously used in Austin (CapMetro Rail), Denton (A-train), and New Jersey (River Line).[9][39]
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