Livermore May Become BART's First Transfer Station

A high price tag is forcing officials to scale back plans to build a Livermore BART station.

Any BART extension in town will now likely be a transfer station, officials said Tuesday at a Tri-Valley Regional Rail Policy meeting.

The plans discussed at the meeting show a west Livermore transfer point along Interstate 580 that could connect to downtown through buses. It also shows another potential transfer station in east Livermore.

Officials said a transfer station would be an easier goal to reach financially, about $1 billion, when compared to the nearly $4 billion needed to build a conventional BART station in town.

"There is no chance of seeing that kind of money any time in the immediate future,” said , District 5 BART director.

McPartland said that BART does not currently have any other existing transfer sites and called it a brand new concept.

“Preliminarily it’s doable and affordable,” he said.

Livermore Mayor Marshall Kamena said the decision to build a transfer station as opposed to a conventional, full-blown station ultimately comes down to the cost.

“I can get further down the track with a transfer station than I ever could with a full-blown station,” Kamena said.

Funding and a project timeline will be discussed at the group's next meeting, which officials said would be announced sometime in the fall.