Alicia Trost

Many of BART’s engineers may retire in the next few years, with about half its engineers currently eligible for retirement.

BART approved the final prototype design of their new trains Thursday after responding to various criticisms — some, though, remain concerned that the new design does not fully respond to the needs of people with disabilities.

On Tuesday, two BART labor unions filed a lawsuit against the BART Board of Directors in the Alameda County Superior Court, alleging that the transit agency illegally excluded a family medical leave clause from the contract it approved on Nov. 21.

After six months of negotiations between BART management and unions, the BART Board of Directors voted 8-to-1 on Thursday to approve most of a mutually-approved contract, but struck down a disputed family and medical leave provision that BART claims was included in error.

The system-wide BART strike that began Friday at midnight left commuters dependent upon limited transportation routes and increased both congestion and frustration throughout the Bay Area.

Unions representing BART employees continued to negotiate with BART management late into Wednesday night, failing to come to an agreement as of press time but temporarily averting a transportation logjam that would have forced about 400,000 Bay Area commuters to find alternative transportation on Thursday.

BART resumed service around 10:20 a.m. Sunday after a power circuit failure earlier in the morning resulted in a mass shutdown of all trains.