BART Still Pondering Why Virtually New Coupling Device Fell Apart

​In the wake of this morning's incident in the BART transbay tube -- in which a coupling device fractured, splitting a nine-car train into five- and four-car segments -- the agency and its riders were left with three unsettling possibilities:

• This was due to a lack of maintenance on BART's aging fleet;

• This was due to an operator attempting to drive like Steve McQueen in a train;

• This was a straight-up, unpredictable equipment failure.

BART's official line is that it's the latter. Whether this is more or less unsettling than neglected maintenance or crazy driving is a matter of debate for us all.

Linton Johnson, the chief spokesman for BART, confirmed that the "yoke assembly" that fractured this morning was manufactured by Wabtech and installed on Jan. 9, 2009 -- and should have lasted "a lifetime." A device resembling a metal bar about the width of a man's arm, the yoke assembly essentially couples two train cars together. For reasons unknown, it ruptured at 6:23 this morning.

"It just kind of sheared in half. It's bizarre," said Johnson. This manner of equipment failure has never before happened at BART "And we've never heard of it happening anywhere else either."

Johnson is unsure of whether this necessitates an analysis of every yoke assembly on every train car in all the fleet. Wabtec will assist BART in its forthcoming investigation -- but Johnson is unclear if BART has a "warranty" for the damaged part or if the company will provide some or all of the funds for the pending inquiry.

While BART's preliminary investigation points toward flaws in the casting of this part, BART board member Tom Radulovich worries failures like the one that tied up the system much of this morning will become commonplace as BART cars age and money is siphoned out of maintenance. Some BART trains hail from as early as 1972, with others added to the fleet in the 1980s and 1990s. "We don't have any cars newer than 20 years old," says Radulovich.

"Hopefully this is just a faulty coupler and an isolated thing," he continues. "But if this is a sign of what happens when you let your system run down, that's pretty sobering. That's what keeps me up nights."