UPDATES: At 3:30 p.m. the North Berkeley BART station has now reopened. Expect delays of up to 20 minutes on the Fremont and Richmond lines. At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday BART confirmed that a person died after being struck by a train shortly after it had left North Berkeley BART station heading to Richmond. The initial report came in at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, according to BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost. At 3 p.m. BART confirmed the coroner was on scene and the station remained closed. As only select trains are going through the station on a single track, some riders are being asked to disembark at MacArthur station to take another train.
Original story, 2:23 p.m. BART closed the North Berkeley BART station Tuesday afternoon, and passengers were experiencing significant delays on the Richmond line, while the transit agency investigated whether a person was possibly on the tracks.
According to BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost, the Berkeley station was closed at around 1:30 p.m. and crews were investigating whether someone was “wayside” in the tunnel.
Meantime, some trains were being turned back at the Downtown Berkeley BART station, and others were only going through the North Berkeley station on a single track, and slowly.
“The initial report was that there may have been somebody on the track just north of the North Berkeley BART station,” Trost said, although at 2:15 p.m. she was still awaiting confirmation.
Passengers can expect delays of 20-30 minutes on the Richmond line, according to BART.
Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said a mobile crisis unit was on scene to offer support.
This story was updated as Berkeleyside gathered information.
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