After two decades of work and countless delays, the BART extension into Santa Clara County is finally ready to open.
South Bay civic leaders gathered at the new Berryessa/North San Jose BART station Friday to celebrate and for many of the dignitaries in attendance, this project has been in the works for their entire careers.
“You have no idea how excited I am to be here today. You don’t, you truly don’t,” said former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, who was in office from 1999-2007. “I feel today like the first time I visited Disneyland and I’m about to board the monorail to Tomorrowland.”
“This was my introduction to politics in July of 2000,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Four campaigns later, 135 VTA meetings and 20 years."
The celebration was hampered somewhat by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, preventing officials from holding a public celebration. But they say the agency is continuing to provide hand sanitizer at all stations and ensure room for social distancing on trains to protect passengers.
The new BART stations will be open to the public on Saturday, June 13. The first train will leave Berryessa/North San Jose at 7:56 a.m and some limited commemorative Clipper Cards will be available for passengers to purchase.