VTA warns of long wait times after 49ers game

With nearly half of Valley Transportation Authority’s light rail train cars out of commission, 49ers fans could face longer wait times than usual leaving Levi’s Stadium today, a VTA spokesperson warned.

The authority stopped running trains for about three months after a disgruntled employee shot and killed nine of his coworkers at its main Guadalupe rail yard in the Bay Area’s largest mass shooting in May. Fifty-five trains returned to service in August, just in time for a 49ers versus Raiders exhibition game at Levi’s Stadium.

But since then, a growing number of cars have been rotated out again for preventative maintenance and part replacement needs that have proven challenging to address given a supply chain slowdown for train brake pads, spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said. That’s left the service with about 30 cars available for the 49ers game against the Arizona Cardinals, set to begin 1:25 p.m. — about half of the preferred number to quickly shuttle about 8,000 people away from the stadium.

“When they come out (today), they’ll be waiting longer,” Hendler-Ross said of 49ers fans. “We apologize. We understand it can be frustrating. We want to set those expectations not only for this week, but next week’s game.”

Although the train system will operate at full service today, fans should expect to wait up to double the amount of time they’re used to, Hendler Ross said.

Typically, the VTA aims to operate about 60 trains that can shuttle thousands away from the stadium within about 45 minutes.

The authority was already down a handful of cars when it reopened for service in August, in part because the three months away meant that each train had to be checked and recertified. Since then, the service has struggled to fill orders for required parts such as brake pads, Hendler Ross said, though she could not provide details on the specific supply chain problems affecting VTA.

The authority also has several unfilled maintenance staff positions after the May 26 shooting, when a disgruntled employee opened fire on his colleagues before dying by suicide. VTA’s handling of the incident — including a number of red flags surrounding the shooter in the years leading up to it — has since raised frustrations and questions among employees.

At some point after the shooting, a shipment of train batteries arrived at the Guadalupe rail yard was delivered, but sent back to Europe because no one was there to receive it, Hendler Ross said. The agency expects a shipment of brake pads sometime this week, but does not yet have a timeline for when all 55 train cars will be available for service.