BART Train Hits and Kills Two Workers

By Bay City News Service

A BART train struck and killed two workers Saturday afternoon north of the Walnut Creek station. It had an "experienced operator" at the controls but was operating in automatic mode under computer control at the time of the accident, BART officials said.

The two people, one BART employee and one contractor, were hit shortly before 2 p.m. as they conducted track inspections. 

They were walking on the tracks with one inspecting the track while the other acted as a lookout, the statement said.

Both had "extensive experience working around moving trains in both the freight train and the rapid transit industry," the statement said.

BART trains are not carrying passengers during the strike, but BART officials have said some managers have been trained to operate the trains for maintenance purposes in the event of a strike. It is not clear, however, whether the train's operator in today's incident was a manager.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 said on its official Twitter account in response to the deaths this afternoon that it will not picket tomorrow "out of respect for the families involved."

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