Transportation: Fixing BART: A "million-dollar" backup for the automatic train protection system stems from BART's "Blue Ribbon Panel" report

Depending on who you talk to, the BART saga thus far is seen either as a tragedy or, at best, a mock epic. Avid Spectrum readers have followed the chronicle from design and development to the surprise accident of October 2, 1972, when a crystal oscillator in the automatic train operating (ATO) subsystem transmitted the wrong speed command and a BART train overran the Fremont station, plowing into a sandpile installed for just such a circumstance. The chapters following that episode have delineated investigations and reports, suits and countersuits (the most recent, BART's $237.8 million damage suit against its consultants and suppliers). But BART rolls on, as does its saga, and this month's chapter deals with retrofits, or how engineers have "edited" a mock epic in hopes of transforming it into an unqualified epic. The principal problems and disagreements centered on the original procurement procedures and on the selection and implementation of the automatic train control (ATC) system. Even now, as a $1.3 million backup system to BART's primary train protection subsystem is being installed, Westinghouse stands firm in its insistence that it is an unnecessary elaboration.