up next on a second look, the first paying passenger road b.a.r.t. 40 years ago this month. the engineering and politics that brought this system into being. plus the road bumps it hit along the way plus the popular system before back and forth and -- before b.a.r.t. and what happened to it. good evening i'm frank somerville and welcome to a second look. next week b.a.r.t. is celebrating 40 years of

operation. it was on september 11, 1972 that b.a.r.t. officials gathered to cut the ribbon on the bay area's newest way to get around. the first segment to open ran only 4 miles. planning actually began all the way back in 1957 with a formation of the bay area rapid transit district. construction officially began on june 19, 1964 when president lindon johnson approved the project. it took 10 months to build the test track. in 1979, vern hawkins brought us this report. >> reporter: public transportation for contra costa county and possibly the world aimed for a future at a testing

side here in concord. the first of three 80,000-pound test cars built in sacramento and loaded with technical equipment loaded passengers for the test track. >> if it never gets any better than it's running right now it's better than transit systems operating today. >> reporter: they will eventually reach into all nine counties surrounding san francisco bay involving 100 kpwhraoupbties -- communities. building b.a.r.t. was one of the largest under takings in history. the developments included not only tunneling under san francisco and oakland but tunnels through the berkeley hills. perhaps most challenging of all, laying a tube at the bottom of san francisco bay.

john fowler brought us this report. we tend to forget b.a.r.t. was not the first. the key system ran all along the east bay even to san francisco. it was killed off in the postworld war ii automobile boom by tire and auto makers. the b.a.r.t. idea sprung up even while key trains still crossed the bay bridge a special board concluded the bridge wasn't big enough for trains and cars. they invisioned something like this. a transit system linking oakland and san francisco through a tunnel beneath the bay. nothing so grand had ever been tried and the idea stayed in the dark for another decade. until state legislators formed the bayarea transit district and gave it the power to levy taxes. in 199 with the key system long gone engineers began to design an ambitious high tech rail

system. voters narrowly approved three quarters of a million dollars for expansion. workers began to tear up streets in the east bay and in san francisco. the chaos created a backlash. >> lately all youd had to do to start an argument or get into a fistfight is mention the word b.a.r.t. >> reporter: in 1968 channel two reporter carlton cordell told us about the b.a.r.t. tunnel. one of the longest problems reported to be the only kaiser industries project ever to lose money. in san francisco, water and mud 100 feet below the financial district made this one of the most difficult tunneling projects in history. described as the greatest story of engineering talent ever

assembled a consortium. they built 57 binocular sections and launched them like ships at the bethlehem plant. someone left the hatches open on that first tube it went straight to the bottom. >> cost them $1 million to raise that tube. that was something. >> reporter: more careful after that the contractors used special barges to position the floating tubes on the bay. engineers sunk them with unheard of .1 of an inch precision. >> it's designed to withstand the effects of an earthquake of

the magnitude of the 1963 earthquake. >> it made a tremendous noise. and the first thing i thought of was earthquake. >> reporter: mel boyd today still can't forget a scare that sent him running from the unfinished tube. the noise turned up to be a ship running anchor through the bottom. today boyd says it's the safest part of the project. >> me personally i would feel the safest in the tube than any other part of the project. >> inflation zapped reserves, overruns and improvements put it overbudget by $150 million. that's why there's a half cent tax today in b.a.r.t.

served counties. b.a.r.t. cars were also designed to withstand high wind. a strike and other delays at car contractor roar and bulky fare collector machines all helpedded put b.a.r.t. more than a year behind schedule. tens of thousands ride b.a.r.t. through the tunnels every day but how much know what it took to put the tunnels there. we'll have two reports from the day that the tunnel was opened look at them with that u-verse wireless receiver.

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look where tonight we celebrate the 50th anniversary of b.a.r.t. b.a.r.t. gave them away to get to their jobs in san francisco without having to sit in all that traffic at the caldecut tunnel. but it wouldn't have been possible without a pair of tunnels through the berkeley hills. the tunnels are 2.5 miles long and b.a.r.t. finished them in february of 1957. ktvu followed the construction as crews dug through the hills and here are two reports from that time. the first with al henzo the second with carlton cordell. the bay area transit tupl which will go from alameda to contra costa county through the mountains starts here just off ssheboe road in oak land. with me is engineer becker how far are you in on this side. >> about 150 feet. we'll be a mile very shortly. >> can we go in and take a look. >> indeed you can. let's get on the motor and go. >> do you ever run into any

particular problems as you bore into the mountain? >> not any particular ones. >> is that pretty much the sequence. you bore in with that big drill then you set charges, blast, clear debris and go through that process over and over again. >> yes, in between the clearing of the debris we set another ring of steel or two rings. emboss them in place to timber. >> will they eventually be covered with concrete. >> yes they will be covered in 18-inches of concrete. 18-inches. you'll be pettily safe after that. >> reporter: the other when finished will also be three miles so we decided to take a ride inside and get to the other end or at least as far as we could go and see how far the tracks are. >> we came in about 1/2 of a mile. the agitator then lets the

concrete out. and it goes down this conveyor belt where it goes down and they're laying the we'd. b.a. - - they're laying the bed. b.a.r.t. closed the system to passengers for eight days. as rob roth reported, some of the trains did keep running. >> reporter: while dozens and dozens of b.a.r.t. cars set idle today, some trains were still on the move. no this is not a mirage to help maintain the system, each day b.a.r.t. has a few trains comes and going. >> this morning we got on at the lake merit station and headed through the tube for san francisco. one of b.a.r.t.'s biggest concerns during this shut -- shutdown is the train tracks. the best defense against rust

is a running train. b.a.r.t. calls it polishing the tracks. workers work-- if rust does build up. workers would have to grind it off. that's 150 miles of grinding. checking the system, troubleshooting, normally this room would be packed. >> the control center has the possibility to monitor all the stations for example fire alarms, smoke alarms. we even have seismic alarms that come in from various locations. in order to maintain the integrity of the system. we have to keep the control centers staffed 24 hours a day. this rare glimpse makes you wonder how long the system will get going again. b.a.r.t. was going to have a ground breaking ceremony next monday for the long awaited san francisco airport station. that has been postponed. when we come back on a

second look, a deadly fire hit as train in the transbay tube. we'll have coverage from the day in 1979 when it happened. we'll show you the east bay transit system that preceded b.a.r.t. with trains that ran across the bay bridge.

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night of the fire. good evening there's a serious fire in the b.a.r.t. transbay two a fire that has claimed the life of one fireman. he died at providence hospital. one more fireman is critically injured. their injuries aren't as serious as the other ones. the fire is still burning in the tube. what you're about to see is the oakland west station. about 40 people were on that train at about the time the fire occurred they all rushed to if front of the six car train. ambulances were called to the oakland west station and an emergency rescue train was immediately dispatched from the san francisco side of the tube. the passengers then had too -- had to sit on the train for about 30 minutes to get help. there they were put on to another train that had been sent to pick them up and brought to the west oakland station. >> it did appear that anyone panicked or were about to

panic. >> seemed like as people were moving forward people were a bit concerned about panicking, yes. >> i was in the back car when it exploded and the first thing i saw was an explosion. the first one was an explosion. a big explosion. the second was an explosion and fire. it was, wow i can't describe it. you know. >> which were you on? >> the very hraáes car, -- the very last car. >> reporter: you're looking at some of the passengers that were on the b.a. r.t. train. five days after the transbay tube fire, family, friends and fellow firefighters all gather to remember the man who died. as betty anne bruno reported many were angry over what had

happened. >> reporter: elliot's widow and family describe their own kind of bravery as his casket was loaded into a hurst after the memorial. underneath the grief of a popular and well known officer was an anger over how he died. and that anger is directed at fire chief moore. >> my husband is out of this fire department because they don't have the leadership they need. i wish the men could pick the chief. because the politicians pick them every time and they don't

care about the men. >> people are very upset. they feel that the chief should come out strongly. should not let this happen again. if we're going to go down on that bore again we want to be protected. and it's going to take more than just talking to protect us. >> reporter: he's not taking a positive enough stand on where we are. he is, fighting of course to get more masks and to get the locks removed from the doors. those kind of things. even under ideal conditions wouldn't have been effective. i think that's what affects them the most, they're supposed to operate the same way.

>> the oakland fire department is coming through about it. right now today and back start yesterday to make sure something is done about it. we just don't talk about cooperation. we're going to demand action. we talked to b.a.r.t. people, say that i had there's going to be the 40 mask. they're going to take the doors off the tunnels. we're going to have better markings on the doors and we're going to have better communication. those things are being done right now. i told them with all due respect of their cooperation. >> he went on his last ride on engine number one today with his buddies. that last day, b.a.r.t. took the media inside the transbay tube to see the damage it caused firsthand. and ktvu's isabel duron was on

the train. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. supervisors took us in a ride a mile into the tube where the fire erupted. the walls inside were sinked with soot. and there was still a smoky smell in the air. other wise the tube showed few signs of the fire that killed one fireman and injured 50 other people. work crews meanwhile have been busy repairing burned communication lines and other cables. they're also sandblasting the walls in order to remay not -- in order to repaint them. the tube itself is safe. >> we had caltrans equal from sacramento in with us. we did core drilling, to see what happened to the integrity of the structure. it looks very, very good. we can find nothing but superficial damage. >> officials believe the two will be ready for use again by

the end of the week. of course they need approval from the puc and the various fire chiefs and that's going to take some time. when we come back on a second look, it was called the key system. so whatever happened to the east bay transit system that proceeded b.a.r.t.

b.a.r.t.'s 40th birthday is the focus tonight. before b.a.r.t. connected the east bay to san francisco there was another public transit system that actually ran commuter trains and carried people along the east bay. it was called the key system. back in 1984, george watson compared the two. >> reporter: it seems that b.a.r.t. has settled for somethingless than it could be. it runs 18 trains in one direction for hours not the promised 40. 349 trains travel on the 71 miles of track.

to put that into perspective. let's take a 60 year step back in time. key system ran 600 trains a day one minute apart. while making more stops along the way, the old key was still almost as fast as b.a.r.t. is today. while the key was running on the bay bridge it took 28 minutes to travel from university avenue in berkeley to san francisco. today it takes b.a.r.t. 27 minutes. when you consider the fact the key system was a privately owned public seeking venture and b.a.r.t. is a $1.6 million publicly subsidized operation, that one minute difference becomes a mighty expensive proposition. b.a.r.t. is all we have today, and even though the system is less than what was promised, we do need it. in 1962 when the voters decided to fund b.a.r.t. it was only four years after the last key system train ran over the bay bridge. it didn't take people long to realize that the transit system was lost and that something has

to replace it. b.a.r.t. was the answer. it's a good trade, it's needed, it's also so frustrating that it is not what we paid for. all of us who were born or came here after 1961 missed something that is hard to put into word. we had a transit system that was simple, clean and efficient. it was a part of our lives, it made commuting less of a chore. what we had can never be as it was. but a reasonable facsimile is a part of our future. >> we thought all disappear and we went on the last ride, went on the last trains to all these spaces and the last run at the local speed cars in oakland. and we thought that was it. because we never saw them making a come back. they were a private company, they had no money even when they were running they had very little. we've seen them all over the west springing up. in seattle. portland, sacramento has two lined up.

san jose is building another one. san diego is building another one it's been so successful. so i guess it's going to be the thing of the future again. >> for the first 40 or so years of the future. the bay area had a wonderful rail transit system which linked. it's gone now but truly not forgotten because the lesson has been learned and it is coming back. and that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank somerville. we'll see you again next week. look at them with that u-verse wireless receiver.

back in our day, we couldn't just move the tv wherever we wanted. yeah, our birthday entertainment was a mathemagician. because if there's anything that improves magic, it's math. the only thing he taught us was how to subtract kids from a party. ♪ let's get some cake in you. i could go for some cake. [ male announcer ] switch and add a wireless receiver. get u-verse tv for $19 a month for 2 years with qualifying bundles. rethink possible.

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