CTA Rail Service Alerts

[jajuan]

5/14/13 10:09a

Rail Line(s) Affected: Red, Brown, Purple

Service Interruption Severity: Major Delays in the area of Armitage. Service is being restored currently...

No details given as to the reason for the Delays/Disruption of service. I can only presume it has something to do with the area of track/switches that were previously damaged in the derailment five days ago. No reports of any new derailments or any mechanical issues of trains there.

That was also my assumption after passing that area because as my train was rolling past going northbound, I saw a bunch of CTA workers on the southbound tracks looking as if they were examining the tracks. Trains were rolling through in both directions smoothly, but at reduced speeds. The rail attendants at Clark/Lake, where I was waiting for the 10:02 Purple Express, didn't give much info either other than Brown and Purple Line trains were delayed due to some disruption at Armitage with the customary they apologize for the inconvenience. The train popped up finally at 10:22. It wasn't on Train Tracker because the Tracker indicated the next Purple Line train would make to State/Lake at 10:30 when I happened to check on a whim at 10:20 and that one popped up two minutes later. My first thought though when they mentioned Armitage was uh oh here we go again.

[sw4400]

5/14/13 3:46p

Rail Line(s) Affected: Brown, Green, Orange, Purple, Pink

Service Interruption Severity: Major Delays due to switching problems Downtown. Switching issue occurred near the Merchandise Mart. Story

Service Interruption Update: Service is resuming with Significant Delays occurring due to earlier switching problems at the Lake/Wells Jct.

Service Interruption Update(5:59p): Service continues to resume to normal with Minor Delays occurring due to earlier switching problems at the Lake/Wells Jct.

[Busjack]

5/14/13 3:46p

Rail Line(s) Affected: Brown, Green, Orange, Purple, Pink

Service Interruption Severity: Major Delays due to switching problems Downtown.

I just heard Mary Frances Braigel to the same extent. So a project seems to have been completed and all hell has broken loose again.

[jajuan]

I wonder if the problems near Armitage this morning was also switching problems as another possibility to the issue raised of if it was related to the derailment a few days ago.

[sw4400]

I wonder if the problems near Armitage this morning was also switching problems as another possibility to the issue raised of if it was related to the derailment a few days ago.

That is my speculation based on the photos I put up in the post here and how close the derailed car was to the switch plus the heavy damage right near where the split in the tracks was.

[Busjack]

I wonder if the problems near Armitage this morning was also switching problems as another possibility to the issue raised of if it was related to the derailment a few days ago.

Except that the report was debris on fire on the tracks. But has the WTSB reported?

[sw4400]

Except that the report was debris on fire on the tracks. But has the WTSB reported?

The debris could've been related to the derailment five days ago. There was a lot of splintered wood after that and I doubt the CTA crews cleaned all of it up. If enough splintered wood collected near enough to the third rail where a spark from a passing train started it smoldering and catching fire, there you go.

[jajuan]

That is my speculation based on the photos I put up in the post here and how close the derailed car was to the switch plus the heavy damage right near where the split in the tracks was.

Except that the report was debris on fire on the tracks. But has the WTSB reported?

By related to the derailment, I was referring to any possible repair work that still needed to be done as the photos shared showed what looked like pretty ugly damage done. (By the way sw, by my mentioning photos that were posted it shows that I remembered what was in them so no need to redirect my attention.) As for my wondering about other possibilities for what delayed service yesterday morning, for most of the day CTA didn't come out and say what the deal was at Armitage that time around other than nondescript bs about an issue at Armitage that caused delays to all three rail lines passing that point. I was not referring to any investigations that may be underway to the actual derailment itself.

[Busjack]

I just heard Mary Frances Braigel to the same extent. So a project seems to have been completed and all hell has broken loose again.

On that one, I subsequently noted the link on the home page from NBC5 that "near the Merchandise Mart ... Automated switching malfunctioned and crews were needed to manually switch the tracks." Like I said, the signal system project at Tower 18 was supposed to be finished by now, unless something was not said about work extending past the 4 weekends when the crossing was closed.

Looks like somebody better call in Alstom from West Henrietta, N.Y. (formerly General Railway Signal), to explain why their equipment didn't work.

[joechicago]

On that one, I subsequently noted the link on the home page from NBC5 that "near the Merchandise Mart ... Automated switching malfunctioned and crews were needed to manually switch the tracks." Like I said, the signal system project at Tower 18 was supposed to be finished by now, unless something was not said about work extending past the 4 weekends when the crossing was closed.

Looks like somebody better call in Alstom from West Henrietta, N.Y. (formerly General Railway Signal), to explain why their equipment didn't work.

Yeah, very frustrating how all the work was done and it fails less then a month later. It would be nice if the CTA issued an official explanation.

It reminds me of when they were installing all the switches & crossovers in preparation for 3 track at Belmont & Fullerton, and there were a lot of issues with them not working properly. I believe they eventually switched to a different manufacturer.

[Busjack]

...

It reminds me of when they were installing all the switches & crossovers in preparation for 3 track at Belmont & Fullerton, and there were a lot of issues with them not working properly. I believe they eventually switched to a different manufacturer.

Didn't Frank's administration say that there was extensive testing at the time, so that when they started removing tracks, there weren't supposed to be problems?

Maybe the alert system wasn't so robust in those days.

[sw4400]

5/18/13 12:02a

***Red Line South Track Renewal Project***

Effective: 5/19/13 @ 2a until TBD

Rail Line(s) Affected: Red

Service Interruption Severity: Service Suspended south of Roosevelt on normal Red Line route. Trains will operate between Howard and Ashland/63rd via the South Side Elevated and Ashland Branch(Green). Red Line service will continue to operate between Howard through the State St. Subway to Ashland/63rd 24 hours/day. Transfer between Red Line trains and Green Line trains at Garfield station.

Alternate Service: Shuttle Buses will be set up to provide non-stop service between the Garfield Elevated station and the closed stations at 69th(R69), 79th(R79), 87th(R87), and 95th(R95). Overnight, the R55 Free Shuttle will make stops between Garfield and 95th, making stops at the closed stations from 63rd to 95th. In addition, the R63 Free Shuttle will provide station-to-station stops from 63rd to 95th. The R22 Free Shuttle will provide non-stop service between the Roosevelt station and the closed Cermak-Chinatown station.

-Metra Service on the Metra Electric Line and Metra Rock Island can be used as alternates. The Metra Electric Line runs to the east of the Red Line and transports passengers to the Van Buren station and Millennium station. The Rock Island Line runs to the west of the Red Line and transports passengers to the LaSalle St. station Downtown.

-There will be a joint fare product sold through the existing CTA Retail Network(Jewel, Walgreens, etc...) in the vicinity of the Red Line. This prepackaged fare product will contain a CTA or CTA/PACE 5-Day Pass and a Metra 10-Ride Ticket. The CTA will issue the 5-Day Pass to be sold with Metra Zone B or Metra Zone C 10-Ride Tickets. The price for the combined tickets will be $52 for Zone B and $64 for Zone C.

-CTA and PACE will issue a 5-Day Pass to be sold with Metra Zone D 10-Ride Tickets. The price for the combined fare product will be $74.

Metra Zone Layout:

-Zone B: 63rd St., 75th St. and 79th on the Metra Electric Line and Gresham on the Metra Rock Island Line.

-Zone C: 87th St. and 95th St. on the Metra Electric Line and 95th(Beverly Branch) and 95th(Main Line) on the Metra Rock Island Line. Most of the B and C Zone stops correspond with a Red Line stop and are also located along east-west routes that also serve the Red Line (the exception being the 75th St. station as the CTA doesn't have a 75th St. stop, but it is the closest stop to the 69th St. station.

-Zone D: Harvey on the Metra Electric Line and Blue Island/Vermont St. on the Rock Island. These stations serve as transfer points between Metra trains and PACE buses that operate nearby.

Flag Stops:

-To further assist Red Line riders, Metra will change Flag Stops to Regular Stops at five Metra Electric stations located in proximity to the Red Line for two inbound trains: Train 100 and 102 during the weekday morning rush hour and for two outbound trains: Train 227 and 241 in the weekday evening rush hour. The stations are 63rd St., 75th St.(Grand Crossing), 79th St.(Chatham), 87th St.(Woodruff) and 95th St.(Chicago State University). Trains will automatically stop at Regular Stops but will only stop at Flag Stops when passengers are visible from the platform or when passengers on the train inform a crew member they want to get off. Additionally, several Saturday trains will also make Regular Stops instead of Flag Stops at these five stations. Those trains are Train 100, 102, 210, 227, 233, 235 and 241. For all other trains, those stations are either Regular Stops or Flag Stops. Flag Stops are indicated with and "F" next to the departure time.

This is due to the closure of the Dan Ryan Branch of the Red Line for the Red Line South Renewal Track Project.

[sw4400]

5/18/13 12:23a

***Special Note***

Effective 5/19/13

Rail Line(s) Affected: Red, Blue

Free transfers between the State St. Subway(Red) and the Milwaukee/Dearborn Subway(Blue) will be available between the Lake(Red) and the Washington(Blue) stations. Transfers are via the Pedway in the lower level of the Block 37 Center, connecting to the Randolph-Washington mezzanine at each station.

Note: A farecard is required for free transfer via the Pedway. Customers without a farecard or needing an accessible transfer should transfer between the Red and Blue Lines at Jackson station.

[sw4400]

5/18/13 12:34a

***Red Line South Track Renewal Project***

Effective: 5/19/13 until TBD

Rail Line(s) Affected: Green

Service Interruption Severity: Service Suspended on the Ashland Branch. Red Line trains will serve the Halsted and Ashland/63rd stations on that branch. Green Line trains will continue to run between Harlem and Cottage Grove during all hours of normal service. Transfer between Green Line trains and Red Line trains at Garfield station.

Morning Rush Period: Select Green Line trains will only run between Harlem and Roosevelt only

Evening Rush Period: Select Green Line trains will only run between Harlem and the Loop only. These trains will operate counterclockwise around the Outer Loop(Brown).

Service is being changed due to the Red Line being rerouted onto the South Side Elevated tracks during the Dan Ryan Branch closure for the Red Line South Renewal Track Project.

[sw4400]

I guess the newly replaced Wells St. Bridge is having issues.... a locking mechanism must not be securing the bridge after it is returned to the down position, causing delays on the Brown Line earlier today. Story

[jajuan]

1740 hours.....unauthorized person has climbed out onto the big advertisment billboard over the boulevard at Garfield Green. Power removed.

Of all the times to be an idiot when folks are trying to get home or maybe going to work for an evening shift on this first workday of the Red Line reconstruction.

[BusHunter]

Of all the times to be an idiot when folks are trying to get home or maybe going to work for an evening shift on this first workday of the Red Line reconstruction.

Power was cut for 20 minutes, I thought they would get a big crowd because of this. They had buses stacked three deep on prairie though like they had planned for big crowds. (Either that or they were blocked off and couldn't exit the terminal) Claypool was out there on the platform while this was going on. It was a regular circus, the parkway between eb and wb Garfield was full of police and fire crews. The shuttles started dropping off riders on the street west of the Garfield station as Garfield was all blocked because of the police activity.

There were alot of trains on the elevated branch. At times we passed 3 red line trains between stops. Red line service appears to be beefed up. They seem to be using the same cars as they were using before. (no transfers) I spotted a few Purple line #2400's also on the Red line, so if anything they have added cars. (The new car cards have red, purple and yellow on the same card so now they can really interline those cars if that's what they wish to do.) Spotted #2405-08 among others. Green line trains would come about every 3-4 trains.

[artthouwill]

I rodea Red.Line 5000 series train this evening around 6:30 after I missed a Green Line train, since the next 2 or 3 trains were Red Line trains. The board showed significant.delays on the Red, Green, and Brown.Lines. The Red and Green I got,.but the Brown? It couldn't be the Wells bridge or anything downtown. Could short turn Greens had an effect on Brown Line trains, especially given the backup caused at Garfield?

[jajuan]

Power was cut for 20 minutes, I thought they would get a big crowd because of this. They had buses stacked three deep on prairie though like they had planned for big crowds. (Either that or they were blocked off and couldn't exit the terminal) Claypool was out there on the platform while this was going on. It was a regular circus, the parkway between eb and wb Garfield was full of police and fire crews. The shuttles started dropping off riders on the street west of the Garfield station as Garfield was all blocked because of the police activity.

There were alot of trains on the elevated branch. At times we passed 3 red line trains between stops. Red line service appears to be beefed up. They seem to be using the same cars as they were using before. (no transfers) I spotted a few Purple line #2400's also on the Red line, so if anything they have added cars. (The new car cards have red, purple and yellow on the same card so now they can really interline those cars if that's what they wish to do.) Spotted #2405-08 among others. Green line trains would come about every 3-4 trains.

Yeah I spotted those combined car cards on the Purple Line Express this morning. I agree it must be so they can keep using a number of 2400s on the Red Line. It's still taking some getting used to seeing those red "Ashland/63" signs when coming back north to home turf. The over head destination guide signs on the platforms of the North Side Main have Ashland/63 taped over the 95th/Dan Ryan on the southbound platforms and southbound side of the island platforms. Didn't get to see if the smaller station identifiers that are also used to identify direction of trains serving the stations had a similar tape over. I also read in the SunTimes the same general consensus of the Trib that the first weekday of the project went smoothly and confirmed reports that the one tweak they made was to add 10 buses to the 29 State after officials saw the State Street buses extra crowded because of the number of folks who used it as an alternative instead of the shuttles. The SunTimes took the story a step further and reported that while South Side riders felt things went off without of a hitch because of there being no major slow zones on the Green Line tracks and the Dan Ryan Expressway being clear enough for shuttle buses to run smoothly and quickly, riders coming from the North Side complained of their rides being longer.

[ArcherRider]

Yeah I spotted those combined car cards on the Purple Line Express this morning. I agree it must be so they can keep using a number of 2400s on the Red Line. It's still taking some getting used to seeing those red "Ashland/63" signs when coming back north to home turf. The over head destination guide signs on the platforms of the North Side Main have Ashland/63 taped over the 95th/Dan Ryan on the southbound platforms and southbound side of the island platforms. Didn't get to see if the smaller station identifiers that are also used to identify direction of trains serving the stations had a similar tape over. I also read in the SunTimes the same general consensus of the Trib that the first weekday of the project went smoothly and confirmed reports that the one tweak they made was to add 10 buses to the 29 State after officials saw the State Street buses extra crowded because of the number of folks who used it as an alternative instead of the shuttles. The SunTimes took the story a step further and reported that while South Side riders felt things went off without of a hitch because of there being no major slow zones on the Green Line tracks and the Dan Ryan Expressway being clear enough for shuttle buses to run smoothly and quickly, riders coming from the North Side complained of their rides being longer.

They still have to 95th/Dan Ryan on it.

[jtrosario]

I rodea Red.Line 5000 series train this evening around 6:30 after I missed a Green Line train, since the next 2 or 3 trains were Red Line trains. The board showed significant.delays on the Red, Green, and Brown.Lines. The Red and Green I got,.but the Brown? It couldn't be the Wells bridge or anything downtown. Could short turn Greens had an effect on Brown Line trains, especially given the backup caused at Garfield?

There were notices yesterday of Significant Delays at Belmont, if I remember right, due to a sick passenger, affecting Brown and Purple line trains. Happened at the same time yesterday evening as the "Billboard incident" at Garfield affecting Red and Green lines. There was some time there where train traffic downtown was sparse due to both incidents holding inbound trains on 4 lines. Got really busy as the trains were released from the two different, but poorly timed incidents.

Around 6:30 train traffic was moving again, just not yet caught up more towards terminal points.

[Around the Horn]

Green Line #612 to Cottage Grove currently approaching LaSalle/VanBuren

[sw4400]

5/24/13 3:53p

Upcoming Alert for 5/25/13 @ 7a until 5/27/13 @ 7p

Rail Line(s) Affected: Purple

Service Interruption Severity: Trains will operate in both directions between Dempster and Howard, resulting in Minor Delays. Board/Exit all trains on the Linden-bound platform at the Main station and the South Boulevard station.

This is due to track maintenance to ensure that trains continue to operate safely on the Purple Line.

[BusHunter]

Yeah I spotted those combined car cards on the Purple Line Express this morning. I agree it must be so they can keep using a number of 2400s on the Red Line. It's still taking some getting used to seeing those red "Ashland/63" signs when coming back north to home turf. The over head destination guide signs on the platforms of the North Side Main have Ashland/63 taped over the 95th/Dan Ryan on the southbound platforms and southbound side of the island platforms. Didn't get to see if the smaller station identifiers that are also used to identify direction of trains serving the stations had a similar tape over. I also read in the SunTimes the same general consensus of the Trib that the first weekday of the project went smoothly and confirmed reports that the one tweak they made was to add 10 buses to the 29 State after officials saw the State Street buses extra crowded because of the number of folks who used it as an alternative instead of the shuttles.

Yeah, on the Green line they have green loop signs taped over the Ashland/63rd signs. At Clinton it's kind of confusing, they have Pink loop signs, Green loop signs and the Cottage Grove signs.

[Busjack]

Yeah, on the Green line they have green loop signs taped over the Ashland/63rd signs. At Clinton it's kind of confusing, they have Pink loop signs, Green loop signs and the Cottage Grove signs.

Well, that's what you get. At least there aren't Purple and Brown Loop signs. like at Belmont, nor green Ashland-63 signs.