San Jose BART service tentatively begins in November

It’s really happening.

Although the date appears to be tentative, the San Jose Mercury News reports that the first BART passenger service to San Jose will begin November 1.

However, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which is constructing the Berryessa/North San Jose BART Station, predicts that the start of passenger service will be “no later than December 31, 2019.”

Plans for San Jose BART service stretch back to the 1950s and the earliest days of BART planning. VTA broke ground on Berryessa Station in 2012.

Originally scheduled to be completed in 2015, a series of delays have beset the project, including a mix-up in 2018 when a contractor installed the wrong kind of communications equipment resulting in a do-over.

At a cost of $2.3 billion, the new station near Berryessa Road and North Capitol Avenue connects to nearby Warm Springs Station via ten miles of track. When complete, the trip from downtown San Francisco to San Jose will finish in roughly 60 minutes.

VTA estimates that by 2030 some 25,000 passengers will enter and exit the station daily. The planned downtown San Jose BART station, approximately six miles from Berryessa, is not projected to go into service until 2026.

• BART San Jose Begins November [Mercury News]
• Berryessa Station Update [VTA]
• Fantasy BART Maps [Curbed SF]
• BART FAQ [VTA]
• BART Silicon Valley Phase 1 [VTA]