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BART riders heading to and from San Francisco International Airport encountered another morning of major disruption on Thursday as train service was halted between SFO and Colma, compounding a week of significant delays on the regional rail system.
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Service Stopped Between SFO and Colma After Equipment Failure
According to regional wire and local news reports, BART stopped train service on Thursday morning, September 10, between San Francisco International Airport and Colma because of a train control equipment problem near South San Francisco. The disruption affected the Yellow and Red lines, which connect San Francisco, the East Bay, and points south of Daly City, triggering major delays for airport-bound riders and commuters across the system.
Reports indicate that trains continued to operate north of Colma and that service was still running on the segment linking SFO and Millbrae, but the gap between the airport and Colma forced many passengers to reroute or transfer to buses. Agencies in the corridor, including SamTrans, directed riders to the ECR bus route, which serves stops between Millbrae and Colma and can provide an alternative path when rail service is unavailable.
The closure near SFO comes with little advance warning for travelers, many of whom rely on BART as a direct rail link between downtown San Francisco and the airport. Publicly available information shows that trains were significantly backed up during the morning commute, with delays rippling across the broader network as rail operations were adjusted around the failed equipment.
New Shutdown Follows Fires and Systemwide Delays Earlier in the Week
The latest shutdown near SFO follows several days of high-profile disruptions on BART. On Tuesday, September 8, service between West Oakland and Daly City stopped for hours after a fire at a power substation near Daly City, according to BART’s own news bulletins and regional coverage. While trains continued to run on the southern end of the system between Colma and SFO, and between SFO and Millbrae, riders traveling through the core of San Francisco and under the Bay Bridge faced packed platforms and crowded replacement trains.
By Wednesday, September 9, reports from local television outlets described additional major delays on the San Francisco line in the East Bay, SFO Airport, Millbrae, and Daly City directions. Those disruptions were linked to ongoing equipment problems near Daly City and West Oakland, on top of the previous night’s fire incident. Riders described on social platforms and in comment threads a patchwork commute of missed connections, rerouted trains, and extended wait times.
The pattern left many travelers heading to SFO facing uncertainty over whether BART would be a reliable option on any given day. In several cases, rail passengers reported opting for ride-hailing services, taxis, or airport shuttles at the last minute, often at higher cost, to avoid missing flights in the midst of repeated delays and partial shutdowns.
Long-Running Train Control Work Adds to Passenger Frustration
The disruptions this week are unfolding alongside a long-running program of train control modernization and track work in the SFO and Millbrae corridor. BART advisories and project updates describe a multiyear effort to replace aging control equipment and related infrastructure between Millbrae, SFO, and San Bruno, a project intended to improve reliability and increase capacity over the long term.
Published BART notices earlier this year warned that riders should expect recurring nighttime and weekend delays of up to 30 minutes between Millbrae and SFO while crews install new train control components and complete related work. Single tracking between Millbrae, SFO, and San Bruno on selected weekends has already been implemented, with trains sharing one track instead of two in the airport area to allow construction to proceed.
While those projects are planned and announced, the recent disruptions tied to fires and sudden equipment failures have landed differently with riders, who are contending with unplanned shutdowns layered on top of scheduled slowdowns. Commentary from passengers online frequently notes that the SFO branch of BART can be especially confusing during service changes, particularly when trains are rerouted between the airport and Millbrae or when certain lines terminate short of their usual destinations.
Impact on Airport and Regional Travel
Despite the BART shutdown between SFO and Colma, federal aviation status updates for San Francisco International Airport on Thursday morning did not attribute significant flight delays to ground transportation issues. Airlines continued operating on regular schedules, but travelers relying on transit faced longer door-to-door journey times and a heightened risk of cutting it close for check-in and security.
Guidance shared through public channels encouraged riders to build in extra travel time and to verify the latest BART advisories before heading to the airport. For those already en route when service stopped, the main alternatives included the ECR bus linking Millbrae and Colma, connecting SamTrans routes to the terminals, and a shift to taxis, ride-hailing, or private shuttles from BART stations that still had service.
Regional planners and advocacy groups have long highlighted the importance of a resilient transit link to SFO, given the airport’s role as an international gateway and its connections to Caltrain and local bus networks. The recent sequence of incidents underscores how equipment issues on a relatively short branch of track can reverberate across the entire Bay Area commute, affecting not only air travelers but also workers who depend on BART for daily trips along the Peninsula and into downtown San Francisco.
What Travelers Can Do in the Coming Days
Given the combination of emergency outages and ongoing construction near SFO, riders are being urged in public advisories and media coverage to closely monitor multiple information sources before traveling. The BART website, official app, and transit alerts provide the most direct updates on station closures, substitute service, and estimated delay times, while local news outlets often offer additional context about the cause and expected duration of disruptions.
For airport-bound travelers, checking both transit status and flight information is increasingly important as the system works through repairs. Riders transferring between BART and Caltrain at Millbrae are advised to pay particular attention to late-night and weekend schedules, when service patterns can differ from weekday daytime norms because of track work in the corridor.
In the near term, transportation agencies are prioritizing repairs to the train control equipment near South San Francisco while also continuing the larger program of upgrades around SFO. The objective, according to project documentation and previously released planning materials, is to deliver a more reliable service pattern in the airport area. Until those improvements are complete and unplanned equipment failures subside, however, travelers using BART to reach SFO may continue to experience intermittent delays and detours.
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