WALNUT CREEK -- Two BART employees were struck and killed by one of the transit agency's trains between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill stations Saturday afternoon, a BART police deputy chief confirmed.
The accident happened about 1:53 p.m. on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line, between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill stations, near the intersection of Jones Road and Chandon Court.
A statement from BART management said that the employees -- one BART employee and one contractor -- were performing track inspections at the time of the accident. Both had "extensive" experience working around moving trains, according the statement, which said that procedures called for one worker to inspect the track and the other
to act as a lookout, watching for any oncoming traffic.BART said the train was being run by an "experienced" operator, and was in automatic mode and under computer control at the time of the accident.
A tarp with at least one body could be seen near the tracks in the vicinity of Jones Road and Pimlico Drive. Another tarp is about 150 yards away on the tracks.
A review of BART radio communications indicate a male train operator was communicating with a female employee, who was counting down measurements, telling the operator to "keep coming, keep coming." As she instructed him to move forward, she suddenly began yelling: "Stop! stop! Slow down! Slow down! Stop! ... Stop!"
The train operator, who sources say was an operator supervisor who drove trains two decades ago, then reported: "BART emergency! BART emergency to Central! We just struck some individuals (at a track location) ... Central be advised it may be BART employees."
Radio traffic indicates that two workers doing inspections were no longer reachable and to check their truck parked at the maintenance gates.
A technician on the train is asked to check for bodies and he reports the first one on the trackway. A "second victim" is then reported 50 yards away on Track C-1.
The male train operator reports that "both are deceased and definitely BART employees."
On another recording, a woman can be heard announcing that "There are no personnel wayside (adjacent to the tracks)."
Within five seconds, a second voice can be heard contradicting that report: "Attention all personnel: We do have personnel wayside between C-40 and C-50 on the C1 and C2 tracks."
Central BART communication officers are out on strike and it's unclear who was operating the dispatch center while trains were moving.
"These people are not trained to do these jobs," said one anonymous BART worker, referring to managers, some former train operators, who have been moving trains during the work stoppage.
BART trains have been idle for commuters since Friday due to a labor strike, but some managers have moved trains for other purposes. BART union representatives have repeatedly warned that allowing managers to operate the trains would be dangerous.
Representatives for ATU Local 1555, one of the unions involved in the strike, did not immediately comment. The union's official Twitter account posted a statement shortly before 3 p.m. saying, "Our hearts go out to any SF BART comrades involved in today's incident. In the midst of this BART strike, no one deserves to die."
The last BART worker killed while on duty was James Strickland, 44, who was killed on Oct. 14, 2008 as he was inspecting track on the same line near Oak Grove Road in Concord. In 2001, a worker was struck and killed in an underground section of track between 16th Street-Mission and 24th Street-Mission stations in San Francisco.
Four other BART workers have died on the job in the agency's 41 years of operation.
Check back for updates.
Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.
