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Sunday BART Trains Now Run Until Midnight Starting Feb. 20 (Finally!)

For the first time since the pandemic, BART will once again operate midnight service every night of the week
By - posted 1/13/2022 No Comment

BART’s schedule will change on Monday, February 14, 2022, with significant improvements to Sunday service. With this schedule change, BART will operate midnight service every night of the week.

Highlights include:

  • Extend service to midnight on Sundays
  • Run 5-line service every day (except for single-tracking Sundays) until about 9pm
  • Consistent 3-line service every day after 9pm
  • 4 trains an hour at SFO station on Sundays until 9pm
  • 15-minute even headways on the Yellow line as far as Pittsburg Bay Point on Saturdays until about 8pm
  • New transfer opportunity at Bay Fair for Dublin to Berryessa transfers every day
  • Improved connections with Caltrain at Millbrae on Sundays before 9pm
  • 16 single-tracking Sundays in 2022 when 3-line service will be provided

Some departure times will shift slightly. All riders are encouraged to look up their specific trips. The new schedule has been loaded into the Trip Planner and riders can start planning their trips. PDF timetables will soon be available.

Sunday Service Improvements

Since the pandemic began BART has been closing at 9pm on Sundays to help accelerate infrastructure rebuilding projects. Beginning Sunday, February 20th, BART will extend Sunday service to midnight. Sunday service hours will be 8am-midight.

Starting in March 2022, for the first time in history, BART will operate 5-line service on Sundays (except on 16 single-tracking Sundays when power cable replacement work takes place in San Francisco. 3-line service will run on single tracking Sundays). It is important to note the high frequency of Sunday single tracking days that will remain as 3-line service with single tracking. March will have only one Sunday of 5-line service and rest 3-line service. Most months will offer 5-line service on Sundays every other week. We’ve listed the 2022 Sunday single tracking days here.

Providing 5-line service on Sundays reduces the need to transfer for most riders and provides more frequency through the busiest core areas of our system. From 8am until evening (about 9pm), the Red line (Richmond to Millbrae + SFO) and Green line (Berryessa to Daly City) will run.

Running 5-Line service on Sundays provides more equitable service to Richmond and Berryessa line riders who previously had to transfer to complete their transbay trip-while other lines provided direct service. Based on ridership data 97% of Sunday riders will get to their destination without the need to transfer, up from 82%. Of those passengers who benefit from this change, about twice as many will ride the Red line than the Green line.

3-line service (Yellow, Blue and Orange lines) will operate every evening after around 9pm and on 16 select single-tracking Sundays. During 3-line service, the Yellow and Blue line will continue to run very close together through San Francisco to enable singling track through work zones. BART plans to improve this service pattern and run Yellow and Blue line trains more evenly spaced apart in the September 2022 schedule change.

Trains will continue to run on 30-minute headways on Sundays with some 15-minute levels of service due to running the Red and Green line. While some outlying areas will see 2 trains per hour on Sunday, most BART stations will see 4, 6, or 8 trains per hour.

New Transfer Opportunity at Bay Fair

More riders are coming in from the Dublin line and heading towards Berryessa. The schedule change includes a new transfer opportunity at Bay Fair every day during all service hours. Riders from Dublin on the Blue line will see a Green or Orange line train across the platform. This transfer has a tight window but the September 2022 schedule change will increase the window to allow for more flexibility to make the meet if there are delays.

Improved Connections with Other Transit Agencies

Most agencies operate the same schedule on Saturday and Sunday, making it difficult for them to design ideal transfers when BART schedules are different on Saturday and Sunday.  Starting in February, the seven night 3-Line service that begins about 9:00 pm is matched all seven days which allows partner agencies to match their schedules with BART more successfully.  The final trains of the night, all seven days in the week, share the same times.

We will update and post the BART and Caltrain transfer timetable to outline the wait times of each connecting train prior to the February 14 schedule change. Offering 5-line service on Sundays reduces some wait times by 8 or 11 minutes. While weekdays and Saturday connections are very similar to what they were before, there are small improvements of 1-3 minutes shorter wait. For example, a 12-17 minute connection, becomes 9-14 minute connection.

Saturday Service

Saturday service hours will remain unchanged (6am-midnight). Trains will continue to run at 30-minute frequency with added trains on the Yellow line as far as Pittsburg/Bay Point until 8pm. This schedule change improves the Yellow line frequency with more even spaced 15 minute headways as far as Pittsburg/Bay Point compared to what was being offered before.

Weekday Service

Weekday service remains unchanged though some departure times have slightly shifted. Service hours continue to be 5am-midnight.

Pictured below is the system map showing 5-line service every day of the week for Sundays we are not single tracking.

Read more at BART.gov