Posters and brochures outlining emergency procedures are located in all trains, Allison said, although they are only available in English. They are available in multiple languages online, he said.
All three suffered minor injuries, including a broken hand, said Allison. He was pressed by reporters to explain whether the incident was caused by the system's old infrastructure.
"From what we can tell right now, in the preliminary investigation, this has nothing to do with the aging infrastructure. After all, we have been working to keep ahead of the aging, and we're doing that as best we can," he said.
The problem occurred on a section of track between Fruitvale and Coliseum stations, where the rail ties were recently replaced.
"We're looking at how this occured, and if we need to do anything differently," said Allison.
The damaged train car has been taken to one of BART's facilities in Oakland.
This update has been corrected to reflect that the problem was not a "fire" but an electrical bolt that caused smoke to enter the train.
Update, Thursday 10:10 a.m.:
BART reports that all stations are now open on the Fremont line and that normal service has been restored. But it says that passengers should expect residual delays to continue systemwide.
Three people went to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Bay City News.
Original post:
A predawn fire on a BART train in Oakland has resulted in major delays as crews work to remove the train and repair damaged tracks, BART officials said.
The fire was reported at 4:38 a.m. on the last car of a three-car Fremont-Richmond train traveling between the Coliseum and Fruitvale stations, BART spokeswoman Denise Gonzalez said.
BART reports that the Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, Coliseum and San Leandro stations are currently closed, along with the connector to Oakland International Airport.
BART spokesman Jim Allison said he did not immediately have any information on whether any passengers on board were injured.
Allison said the SFO-Pittsburg/Bay Point and Richmond-Daly City lines are still running with normal service.
BART officials said passengers should expect the service disruptions to last through the morning commute and should seek alternate forms of transportation.
Many commuters apparently are doing just that, as this photo of long lines at the Oakland ferry terminal illustrates.
