San Francisco BART Stations Reopen After Investigation of Suspicious Object

The Powell Street BART station in downtown San Francisco has reopened after the investigation of a suspicious object led to its closure, forcing passengers to seek alternative transportation.

The incident caused delays throughout the BART system and in Muni on Tuesday morning. Fifth Street and Ellis Street were closed in San Francisco as well.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A Muni passenger reported finding a gray, shoe box-size device with a blinking light and wire near a stop at the intersection of Eddy and Cyril Magnin streets at 7:20 a.m., authorities said. ...

The police bomb squad used a robot to examine the box and concluded it was harmless. The station and Market Street reopened just after 8 a.m.

BART tweeted the all-clear at 8:00 a.m:

BART recovering: svc has resumed to normal operations on SF line and POWL stn has now reopened.

— SFBARTalert (@SFBARTalert) March 19, 2013

That came 17 minutes after the announcement of major delays throughout the system.

Major delay system wide due to police activity at POWL stn.trains are not running through POWL -.

— SFBARTalert (@SFBARTalert) March 19, 2013

BART first announced the closure at about 7:30 a.m.

Stn closure at POWL due to police activity.

— SFBARTalert (@SFBARTalert) March 19, 2013

Here's Bay City News' report:

The discovery of a suspicious object near the Powell Street BART station in San Francisco has shut down streets and stopped BART service through the area.

The object was found outside the BART station, police said.

A BART employee said police have asked the transit agency not to allow trains to run through the station.

Trains in both directions are being turned around before they reach Powell Street, and riders are advised to expect major delays.