4/3/07
CTA's rail and bus service continued to perform as expected on the second day of three-track operation at the Belmont and Fullerton stations. During the evening commute the Red, Brown and Purple Express Lines provided rail customers with normal service intervals and northbound bus routes out of the Loop attracted additional customers and additional buses were added as needed.
From 4 to 5 p.m. Red, Brown and Purple Express trains were operating as scheduled without any delays. A trip on the Red Line from Lake to Howard took between 38 and 41 minutes. The Brown Line from Merchandise Mart to Irving Park took from 23 to 26 minutes, and a trip on the Purple Line from Merchandise Mart to Howard took from 28 to 30 minutes, with customers seated on all routes. Between 5 and 6 p.m. travel times increased to 47 minutes on the Red Line but remained at 25 to 26 minutes on the Brown Line and 30 minutes on the Purple Line. Trains became more crowded with some customers experiencing standing conditions.
CTA added buses to the #136, #143, #145, #146, #147 and #148 routes leaving downtown and traveling north to accommodate additional bus customers.
Unrelated to three-track operation, around 4 p.m. the Chicago Police apprehended a trespasser on the CTA right-of-way at the Western station on the Orange Line. Power was removed for roughly 12 minutes while the police took the individual into custody. Aside from the brief delay, service operated normally on the Orange Line when power was restored.
Customer traffic on platforms continued to be steady throughout rush, but there were no instances of any notable overcrowding of platforms - beyond the usual rush crush.
The CTA's web site, transitchicago.com, and the ctabrownline.com site have all information pertaining to the three-track project.
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