The biggest BART fan in Japan flew to the Bay for a day to ride a legacy train one last time

A photo of a scrapbook showing Atsushi Goto on a BART train in 2001. Photos courtesy of Atsushi Goto.

On Friday, April 19, at 3pm, Atsushi Goto's plane touched down at San Francisco International Airport. He hastily collected his carry on, went through customs, and dashed toward the SFO BART station. A train was waiting for him on the platform.

The last time Atsushi rode BART, the trains still had yellow carpets and fabric seats. The Fleet of the Future trains were just an idea, and the legacy fleet didn't have that adjective attached to its name yet. Actually, the fleet was only a few years older than Atsushi, then a 21-year-old university student in Japan touring the U.S. before starting his career.

That was 2001. This past April, it was 23 years since Atsushi, now an automobile designer, had last set foot on a BART train. And these trains were not the ones he knew.

The 24 hours that followed were a whirlwind of a trains, buses, cable cars, and one big party for a bunch of old trains at MacArthur Station - BART's retirement celebration for the legacy trains. On the night of Saturday, April 20, just over a day after arriving, Atsushi was on a plane again, headed back home to Japan. He had work on Monday.

Atsushi poses with legacy car number 1834 at the legacy retirement ceremony on Saturday, April, 20, 2024. Photo courtesy of Atsushi Goto.

"I feared this was my last chance to see these trains. I could not wait any longer," Atsushi said, speaking on a videocall from Japan. He'd never intended for his return to the Bay Area to take so many years, but between work and his other adult responsibilities, it just happened that way.

Atsushi had heard rumblings of a BART legacy fleet retirement party and final ride from rail fans online, so every single day, he checked BART's X account to see if the event information had been posted. He immediately started looking for plane tickets. A few weeks before, it finally appeared on his feed. Just a few days later Atsushi booked his ticket. Due to his work schedule, he could only get away for the weekend.

He has no regrets. His final ride on the legacy fleet was everything he dreamed it would be.

"It was unforgettable, a wish come true," he said.

On his last ride, Atsushi took tons of photos, celebrated with fellow rail fans, and reflected on the 23-year-long ride that took him from his first spin on an original BART train to his final one that day. Before the train returned to the yard from Fremont Station, Atsushi said, "I touched the train to thank it for its many years of service."

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