dave8888 Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 On Sunday (7/27), I'm heading north on the red line from the loop to go to the Cubs game. The train is packed as usual on game day with cubs fans. We get to Belmont and the operator informs us that the train will be going express from Belmont to Bryn Mawr and that we could jump on the next train right behind us. Well, 99% of the train needed to go ONE MORE STOP to Addison, but instead we ALL need to exit the train. Needless to say, the next train was also packed with passengers, so most of us had to walk the rest of the way to Wrigley. It's not a far walk but still, this whole situation seemed to be pretty ridiculous. Is there a logical explanation to why the train could not wait one more stop before going express at 1pm on a Sunday? Anyone else experience this madness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 On Sunday (7/27), I'm heading north on the red line from the loop to go to the Cubs game. The train is packed as usual on game day with cubs fans. We get to Belmont and the operator informs us that the train will be going express from Belmont to Bryn Mawr and that we could jump on the next train right behind us. Well, 99% of the train needed to go ONE MORE STOP to Addison, but instead we ALL need to exit the train. Needless to say, the next train was also packed with passengers, so most of us had to walk the rest of the way to Wrigley. It's not a far walk but still, this whole situation seemed to be pretty ridiculous. Is there a logical explanation to why the train could not wait one more stop before going express at 1pm on a Sunday? Anyone else experience this madness? Sometimes when trains get delayed for whatever reason, they would go express to a certain point. I've rode a Red Line train a few years ago, and I believe the train stall for about 20 minutes due to a signal problem. So after the train started to go, the operator states that the train will go express from North & Clybourn to Jackson. Then of course, they switch the signs to the Express Signs with the red light flashing next to it inside the train cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Sometimes when trains get delayed for whatever reason, they would go express to a certain point. I've rode a Red Line train a few years ago, and I believe the train stall for about 20 minutes due to a signal problem. So after the train started to go, the operator states that the train will go express from North & Clybourn to Jackson. Then of course, they switch the signs to the Express Signs with the red light flashing next to it inside the train cars.But the question was why the control center had a brain cramp, and didn't unload the train at Addison instead of Belmont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 But the question was why the control center had a brain cramp, and didn't unload the train at Addison instead of Belmont. Now thats the $64,000 question. They should've been aware that they were over hundreds of people going to the Cubs game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave8888 Posted July 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 Just got a reply from CTA customer service (pasted below): ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your complaint and we apologize for the inconvenience. We certainly understand and appreciate your concern and we can only say that a decision to bypass Addison would only be made if there was a serious gap in train service further ahead and we needed to run one or more express trains to close that gap and get the trains as close to schedule as possible as quickly as possible. While your point about many customers wanting Addison is well taken, we do have to consider all our customers in both directions across the entire route when making such decisions (including those traveling to Wrigley from the north, who would face that gap in service once it reached Howard street and we had a delay turning such trains back south). Any delay in rail service will inconvenience people and we again apologize for it, but we do believe we benefit the greatest possible number of customers when we do whatever is needed to get the trains back on time. Thank you again for your feedback and very understandable concern. --CTA Customer Service ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 I still think CTA Customer Service gave you the usual doubletalk, although they do seem to understand what the question was. My reply would be that it would seem to take less time to unload the train at Addison than to do so at Belmont and tie up the followers with people riding only one more stop. But they claim they know what they are doing ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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