Not only was BART's first (of two) weekend shutdown of the Transbay Tube not as bad as expected, but the transit agency claims that work done during that period has been great for riders' ears. But was it, really?

In a press release sent Thursday, BART spokesperson Alicia Trost said that "A tremendous amount of work was accomplished during the first shutdown," which riders endured August 1-2.

The agency has also "heard some good feedback from riders about how they have noticed a quieter ride," Trost said, pointing us to a couple positive tweets from riders as evidence of this, I guess?

Why might things sound better? According to BART's release, that's because during the last shutdown they replaced 6,500 feet of Transbay Tube rail, and ground 3 miles of rail "down in the tube on the East Bay bound track near the Embarcadero Station for a quieter ride."

Those two bits of work "resulted in reduction of a sound that has been compared to banshees, screech owls, or Doctor Who's TARDIS run amok."

(One might argue that since the TARDIS is a stolen vehicle, it's always running amok, but I'm a) not going to give BART shit for getting a little silly in a release and b) I feel like if I talk any more Doctor Who you guys will think I'm even more of a dork that you already do, if possible.)

Leave it to KPIX to rain on BART's positivity party, as they say that "BART riders who spoke to KPIX 5 on Thursday had differing experiences."

“Loud, loud as it was before,” said Joe Martins told KPIX.

And then there's Steve McLaren, who took BART from the East Bay to SF Thursday to catch the Giants game.

“Came through the tunnel and it’s the first time I ever heard all the screeching sound through there,” McLaren said.

“And I turned to [my wife] and I said ‘What’s going on here? Is this louder than normal?’”

Joe and Steve might not be impressed, but there's one person who's still happy: Gordon Hansen, of the "noticeably quieter" tweet.

The next BART transbay shutdown is scheduled for Labor Day weekend (September 5-7). Here's hoping that after that work's done, taking BART through the tunnel will be like floating on a soft cloud in heaven. KPIX report on how it actually is like being thrown on a bed of nails to come!

Previously: Weekend BART Closure Not The Disaster It Was Expected To Be