Busjack Posted April 13, 2024 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2024 Another worthless piece of "feel good" proposed legislation from the Illinois General Assembly: After Yellow Line crash, Senate clears bill requiring transit agencies to make safety recommendations public. Both NTSB and CTA did so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elkmn Posted April 13, 2024 Report Share Posted April 13, 2024 all I want is them to lift the 35mph restriction 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 13, 2024 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2024 1 hour ago, Elkmn said: all I want is them to lift the 35mph restriction Have you done enough testing to verify that it's safe and worth it to save maybe 2 minutes? The State Legislature is working on what I characterized as "feel good" legislation and you want CTA immediately to violate the NTSB's preliminary findings? The current timetable indicates a 10-minute trip. Do you want to give that up for a 42-minute trip on 97 or probably the same on a shuttle bus? Get real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elkmn Posted April 13, 2024 Report Share Posted April 13, 2024 I mean, i wish that testing will go well so trains can resume 55 mph operation. Still, a 35mph train making 2 stops is better than a 20 mph bus making god knows how many stops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted October 24, 2024 Report Share Posted October 24, 2024 This ABC 7 News report relays that the operator from last year's Yellow Line crash had alcohol in their system. It says that they had a blood alcohol level of .06, and CTA regulations state the level can't be higher than .02. The report also seems to relay that the operator didn't yet undergo CTA's random drug and alcohol testing because they were only a rail operator for three months at the time. The reported results are from a test done on the operator while in the hospital for their injuries from the crash. CTA steered questions to the NTSB due to the investigation still being active and the feds' resulting protocol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted October 24, 2024 Report Share Posted October 24, 2024 59 minutes ago, jajuan said: This ABC 7 News report relays that the operator from last year's Yellow Line crash had alcohol in their system. It says that they had a blood alcohol level of .06, and CTA regulations state the level can't be higher than .02. The report also seems to relay that the operator didn't yet undergo CTA's random drug and alcohol testing because they were only a rail operator for three months at the time. The reported results are from a test done on the operator while in the hospital for their injuries from the crash. CTA steered questions to the NTSB due to the investigation still being active and the feds' resulting protocol. While employers can't give out information about personnel, I can almost guarantee that the employee involved in the accident will be fired. First, he had a blood alcohol reading over the legal limit. When a person is tested and the results are over the legal limit, a second test gets administered. Usually that reading comes in a tad bit lower, but if it's still over the legal limit, that is grounds for automatic termination. The second issue may be the operator may have been a probationary employee. A major accident resulting in in injury or death may also be cause for automatic termination. For some companies, this is true even for a minor accident if it's determined that the accident was presentable, meaning the operator could have taken action to prevent the accident from happening but failed to do so. I once had to lose a driver because he came to work "drunk." He actually came late to work and I assigned his work to other drivers. I told him to just go home. He insisted he was given a certain start time. O told him I gave him the correct start time but he said he forgot what time I gave him and called back and someone else gave him the wrong start time. I gave him the benefit of a doubt and clocked him in but after doing so, I smelled alcohol on his breath. Just then the field supervisor came in and walked past him and then asked to speak to me in private. When he said he smelled alcohol on him, then I knew I could send the driver to the clinic for an alcohol test under the reasonable suspicion rule. He tested .146 and .144. That leads me to this. Did any CTA supervisor come into contact with the operator? Granted some people will mask their breath with mouthwash ( which can have alcohol in it) and might elevate a reading on a breathalyzer test. Or maybe there wasn't enough staffing to allow for a reasonable suspicion test, meaning only one supervisor was available to observe the operator when two was necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted October 24, 2024 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2024 Actually Chuck Gowdie and other sources didn't do much of a investigation The NTSB Docket is here, including the OPERATOR INTERVIEW (which names him and is singular), WORK HISTORY, and the MEDICAL FACTUAL REPORT for the operators of both the passenger train and snow plow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 4, 2024 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2024 On 10/24/2024 at 10:56 AM, artthouwill said: While employers can't give out information about personnel, I can almost guarantee that the employee involved in the accident will be fired. First, he had a blood alcohol reading over the legal limit. When a person is tested and the results are over the legal limit, a second test gets administered. Usually that reading comes in a tad bit lower, but if it's still over the legal limit, that is grounds for automatic termination. The second issue may be the operator may have been a probationary employee. Sun-Times article saying that firing appears almost automatic for both reasons, but CTA can't discipline him while he is on inactive status due to his injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Mac Posted December 10, 2024 Report Share Posted December 10, 2024 On 1/6/2024 at 7:44 PM, strictures said: The NYC problem was caused by them still having emergency stop cords in every car that any loon of a passenger can pull & that's exactly what happened to start it. CTA got rid of their emergency cords decades ago. They basically still have the emergency stop chord, but just in a different style though. We call it the cherries..people will pull them down on the bus&train and though it has little effect on the train it still applies the brakes on the bus as well which could result in a jerk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 6 Author Report Share Posted February 6 Reported that the NTSB Final Report has been released. Text of the report is here. Quote 3 Probable Cause The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the collision between Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) passenger train 593 and snow removal machine S-500 was a combination of three factors: (1) an aggressive speed reduction command that resulted in wheel slide and degraded the train’s braking performance, (2) CTA’s decision to disable the automatic track brake application feature of the train’s wheel slide protection system, delaying application of the track brake and further reducing the train’s braking performance, and (3) the presence of organic material on the rails that caused slippery conditions that worsened the wheel slide and further degraded the train’s braking performance. And the explanation for why the automatic track brake was deactivated: Quote During the 5000-series railcar tests leading up to a 2009 internal report, CTA found that the wheel slide protection system was effective at reducing the stopping distance under low-adhesion conditions, but the system tended to continuously deploy the track brakes, which could produce a high brake rate and discomfort to passengers. Consequently, CTA decided to disable the automatic track brake application during wheel slide, leaving the application of the track brakes to the judgment of the operator. In short, despite any math done above, the train should have stopped in 1/3 of a mile if the track brake were on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethebusman Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 So am I reading this correctly that 5000s were set up to have track brakes drop if wheels start to skid and this was disabled beecause it happened too often? Doesn't CTA teach operators what to do if wheels start skidding except just let them? Back in the 1970s I was taught release dynamic brakes, drop track brakes, as soon as wheels resume rolling release track brakes and apply dynamics again. Yes, a rough stop, but a heck of a lot better scenario than an uncontrolled glide and flat wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.