9/28/06
Throughout the morning, CTA customers on the North Side experienced service delays on the Brown and Red Lines, and Purple Line Express. In an unfortunate chain of three unrelated events ? two of which were beyond control of CTA, and one involving a safety issue with a section of track ? service was disrupted several times between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. CTA extends an apology to customers for the frustration and inconvenience they experienced as a result of the service disruptions. None of the incidents that took place earlier today will adversely impact this evening's commute.
At approximately 7 a.m. a ComEd power outage in the Lakeview neighborhood resulted in a loss of power to the train signal system at Barry Avenue. CTA staff went to the scene to manually operate signals to keep trains moving throughout the corridor, however, delays did occur on the Brown and Red Lines and Purple Line Express. The signal system resumed normal operation at approximately 9 a.m.
At approximately 8:10 a.m., a Brown Line rail operator reported a track irregularity at Larrabee just south of the Armitage station. A rail supervisor sent to the scene observed a gap in the running rail and, in the interest of safety, halted train traffic from operating on that section of track until repairs could be made.
To maintain service, southbound Brown Line trains were routed to Red Line tracks south of Fullerton and transported Loop bound customers through the subway.
A bus shuttle was set up southbound from Fullerton to Clark/Lake to help supplement Brown Line rail service. Brown Line trains operated normally northbound.
Southbound Purple Line Express trains operated via the Red Line from Fullerton to Roosevelt and returned northbound through the State Street subway and resumed normal routing at Fullerton.
There were four trains that had already passed Armitage station and had to pull back to the station and allow customers to exit. This took just over 90 minutes to complete. CTA buses were dispatched to Armitage to transport southbound customers that had to exit trains.
Repairs to the track were made and southbound Brown Line service resumed at approximately 10:15 a.m.
Just after 11 a.m. CTA received a report of a possible suicide attempt. A southbound Brown Line train made contact with a customer at Wellington station on the Brown Line. Power was removed from the tracks in order for emergency responders to access the track. Brown Line service from Southport to Clark/Lake was temporarily suspended in both directions. A bus shuttle was in place from Southport to Clark/Lake in both directions as a substitute for Brown Line service.
The Red Line was also impacted as it operates on tracks that pass Wellington and power had to be cut on all tracks. A bus shuttle was in place from Addison on the Red Line to State/Lake in both directions to substitute for Red Line service.
The Chicago Fire Department removed the victim from the tracks and power remained off while the Chicago Police Department investigated the scene. At approximately 1 p.m. power was restored and service resumed northbound and southbound on the Red and Brown Lines.
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