BART Unveils West Dublin/Pleasanton Station

You know it's a big deal when they break out the bagpipes and a color guard carries in the American flag.

That was the scene Friday morning when BART officials held the grand opening for the West Dublin/Pleasanton station.

It's the transit agency's first new station since the SFO extension opened in 2003. It's also BART's first new station on an existing line.

"This is a great day for Dublin. It's exciting and it's been long-awaited," said Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti before the ceremony.

The station will be open to riders at 5:45 a.m. Saturday. The first train will arrive at 6:03 a.m., headed for Daly City.

BART's 44th station is expected to accomodate an average of 4,300 passengers every weekday.

It also breaks up the longest stretch of BART tracks, 10 miles from the Castro Valley to the Dublin/Pleasanton station.

The new station features almost 1,200 parking spaces, most of them in a 4-story garage on the north side of the tracks. Officially, 721 spaces are on the Dublin side and 468 are on the Pleasanton half.

The net gain in parking, however, will be about 400 spaces. That's because 800 spaces at the Dublin/Pleasanton station will be eliminated soon. New development is expected to go on that land on the Dublin side of Interstate 580.

In addition, the new station features a pedestrian/bicycle walkway that arches over the freeway, linking the parking garage with the BART tracks.

"This is a very exciting day. It's great for these communities," said James Allison, deputy communications chief for BART.

The $106 million station did come in $20 million over budget and a year behind schedule.

Nonetheless, the transit agency pulled out all the stops for Friday morning's ceremony. Besides balloons and a cake, a jazz band played in one corner. In addition, a bagpipe player kicked off the festivities followed by a color guard bringing in the flags. A Pearl Harbor survivor led the Pledge of Allegiance and the daughter of a BART employee sang the Star Spangled Banner.

"It's raining outside, but the sun is shining inside here," BART board vice president John McPartland told the crowd. "This has been a long day coming."

Construction on the station began in 2006 and it required crews to build a new station along a busy freeway as well as existing BART tracks.

"This has been an engineering marvel and a safety nightmare," McPartland noted.

Civic leaders praised the new station as a development that will invigorate the western half of Pleasanton and Dublin.

"What this really means is jobs. It's a hub," said McPartland.

Mayor Sbranti said a transit village is expected to spring up around the station. He said the station will serve both nearby business owners as well as commuters from Dublin, Pleasanton and the San Ramon Valley.

BART officials noted the station will also decrease traffic along Interstate 580.

"You won't have to be a BART rider to see the benefits," said Allison.

The cost of a one-way ticket from the new station to downtown San Francisco will be $5.50. Getting to downtown Oakland will cost $3.85.

There will be a daily parking fee of $1. A monthly reserved parking permit will cost $63.