⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ BART: Berryessa/North San Jose - Warm Springs/South Fremont (First Day of Service)

After decades of planning and years of delays, Phase 1 of BART’s Silicon Valley extension is finally here. Take a 10-mile journey with us on the first day of service, and on the first-ever northbound in-service Fleet of the Future train, as we travel from the new end of the Green and Orange Lines at Berryessa/North San Jose to Warm Springs/South Fremont.

To watch the southbound journey between these three stations, click here:    • ⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ BART: Warm Springs/South Fremont...  
To see some train action at Milpitas, click here:    • ⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ BART: Fleet of the Future and Le...  
To see some more train action at Berryessa, click here:    • ⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ BART: Fleet of the Future and Le...  

Ever since BART’s inception, plans included service within San Jose’s city limits. This was indefinitely put on hold, however, when Santa Clara County pulled out of negotiations in 1957 in favor of building abominable expressways.

In the late 90s, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and East Bay officials met for preliminary discussions about the prospect of extending BART to San Jose. In 2000, VTA’s proposed sales tax for funding construction costs passed with 71 percent support. The line was to be built to Santa Clara, with stops at Diridon, Downtown San Jose, 28th St/Little Portugal, Berryessa, Milpitas, and Warm Springs/South Fremont.

Construction didn’t begin for another 12 years, at which point the extension had to be split into two phases due to the 2009 recession and subsequent budgetary shortfalls. The first phase was to be built to Berryessa, with one intermediate stop at Milpitas.

Originally slated to open in 2016, the extension experienced a series of setbacks that pushed the opening date back by four years. A likely partial culprit was the fact that the extension was built by one agency (VTA) and operates under another (BART), which caused no small amount of headaches during the construction period.

Nevertheless, construction and testing have been completed, and after decades of ambivalence and uncertainty, residents of Santa Clara County are able to board BART trains in their county for the first time.

The journey from Berryessa to Milpitas takes about four minutes, and an additional nine minutes to Warm Springs. The extension brings BART’s total station count to 50, and its total track mileage to 131.

In the year 2030, we may see the Orange and Green lines extended once again, this time further south as part of Phase 2 of the Silicon Valley extension to Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara. The opening of Milpitas and Berryessa will likely remain the most recent expansion of the system for at least another decade.
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Contents:
0:00 - Berryessa Train Arrival
0:54 - Berryessa/North San Jose - Milpitas
5:08 - Milpitas - Warm Springs/South Fremont