Cracked rail causes lengthy BART delays

Normal BART service was restored in the East Bay on Thursday after a two-hour disruption caused by a cracked rail near the Lake Merritt Station, a BART spokesman said.

Service underwent a delay of up to 30 minutes after the discovery of the damaged rail around 9:15 a.m. in the underground Y section beneath downtown Oakland where several BART lines intersect, said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

The damaged track was shut down, and passengers were directed to transfer at the West Oakland, Bay Fair and Oakland City Center 12th Street stations to trains on the opposite platform.

Service was restored at 11:07 a.m.

It was not immediately known what caused the cracked rail, Johnson said.