On Thursday, Oct. 27, the BART Board hosted a Board meeting at BART’s Hayward Maintenance Complex (HMC), one of four facilities where BART maintains its fleet of vehicles.
More than 200 people came for a rare look inside the HMC, joined by BART Board members and employees. They arrived at the warehouse, located off Whipple Road on BART-provided shuttles from South Hayward Station, carrying cameras and plenty of excitement.
Upon arrival, attendees were ushered inside a large loading dock. Board President Rebecca Saltzman kicked off the meeting.
“I knew it would be a really unique experience,” Saltzman said.
Also in attendance were Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday, Union City Vice Mayor Jamie Patino, and Union City Manager Joan Malloy, as well as representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15) and California State Assembly member Bill Quirk.
The tour made four stops at different sites around the complex, with employees positioned at various places along the route to explain the equipment and technology.
Between touring the facility, the group stopped, as the Board and BART staff delivered reports and updates on everything from the Core Capacity Program and Train Control Modernization Program, to the Fleet of the Future and Traction Power upgrades. The tour also highlighted the federal, state, regional, and county funding partners -- many of whom attended the tour -- who crucially made billions of dollars of financial contributions to these capital infrastructure investments.
One of the highlights of the tour was walking through the Component Repair Shop, a cavernous warehouse where BART staff troubleshoot and repair faulty equipment. Inside, attendees viewed everything from HVAC systems, to traction power tools, asking plentiful questions of the employees.
