How does BART third rail work?

BART's third rail, which powers the trains, runs on 1,000-volt DC electricity. For comparison, a typical car battery voltage measures 12.6 volts. With that much power pulsing through the system, BART Electricians always make safety their top priority.



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Third rail systems are also less vulnerable to weather-related disruptions that affect overhead wires. As the third rail is on the ground it is unaffected by strong winds and less exposed to heavy snowfall.

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Propulsion is provided by four 150-HP, air-cooled, electric traction motors - one per axle. Tractive energy is furnished via the third rail operating at 1000 volts DC. In brake mode, the cars are designed to regenerate energy to the third rail.

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The train is run in automatic mode, so they start and stop by themselves.

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Andy Morris survives 625-volt zap after being pushed onto live third rail in drunken brawl.

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This is why birds do not die from landing on power lines, and subway rats do not get electrocuted even if they run across the third rail; they are not bridging the energized wire or rail to a grounded part of the structure.

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According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), since 1975, there has been an average of 1.3 train accidents per year involving fatalities. Compare that with 2,584 aviation accidents and 700 bus accidents over the same time period.

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Compared to other popular forms of travel, such as cars, ships, buses, and planes, trains are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.

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Truck crashes tend to be local and less dramatic than a pile of derailed train cars on fire, even if they're deadlier. In fact, federal data shows that rail has had far fewer incidents, deaths and damage when moving hazardous materials in the U.S. than trucks.

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The United States possesses the largest railway network in the world, in terms of total operating length. China and India trail behind as the second and third largest railway networks respectively.

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The BART Board of Directors passed the proof of payment requirement on October 26, 2017, to deter fare evasion. The new ordinance took effect January 1, 2018. Any person inside the paid area of BART must be prepared to show a magnetic stripe ticket or Clipper card with valid fare.

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Safety is BART's top priority. To help keep passengers and our employees safe, BART has more than 4,000 working cameras throughout our system and we are working very hard to increase both sworn officers and ambassador presence.

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The size of BART's fleet will be dynamic while new trains are put into service and old trains are retired. BART has 8 DMU train cars which each have a seating capacity of 104. 70 mph maximum; 35 mph average, including 20-second station stops. For BART to Antioch DMU trains, the maximum speed is 75 mph; 60 mph average.

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