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One good thing (about the only good thing, really) you can say about the CTA is that there aren’t a lot of bomb scares. That may be because the vehicles themselves are considered enough of a hazard, but we digress. We can’t remember the last time our train was sidelined for anything besides electrical problems or medical emergencies. National rail may be another matter entirely, though: An Amtrak train headed to Chicago from Washington, D.C. was detained last night when several suspicious packages were found abandoned on it.
The No. 29 was scheduled to leave Union Station in D.C. at 4:05 p.m. and end up in the samely-named station in downtown Chicago. Around 5:30 p.m. in Rockville, MD, several packages were found with no owner attached. Bomb squads were called in, the Rockville Amtrak and Metro stations were shut down, and at least five trains were stuck on the trains until 7:30, stranding up to two thousand passengers. Thankfully nothing dangerous was found, but the snafu affected many local commuters that had nothing to do with Amtrak.
We’re hoping there’s no tie between these parcels and the alleged “Bishop” pipe bomber associated with the city. Chances are slim, since the train bomb threat turned out to be nonexistent, while the Bishop definitely has explosive tendencies. We honestly have no idea if those packages had anything to do with Chicago or not. What we do know without a doubt is that whenever we see the word “Rockville,” we get that f’ing R.E.M. song in our heads, and it’s all downhill from there.
Image via osha.gov.
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Another "good thing" you can say about the CTA is that it safely and reliably transports 1.5m passengers a day throughout the City of Chicago.
I have run out of patience with the CTA crybabies. Complaints about the service are shallow, populist rhetoric which puts this site on par with the RedEye which was so lazily attacked yesterday in an attempt for publicity.
Are the trains slower than they once were? Yes. Have they had a couple non-critical accidents recently? Yes. These are not good things, but they represent small deviations from otherwise reliable service. Until you are ready to pay and advocate for $5 fares, or make serious appeals to the state legislature for increased funding, then there is nothing to complain about.
You can get from downtown to two airports without transferring. New York can't say that. Los Angeles won't even get you to one. You can go from any point in the city to any other making only one bus transfer. And you can do it every 10-15 minutes maximum. 30 minutes if it's 3:00 am. That's unheard of in any other city in the country.
Find a real topic about injustice in city services. Don't betray yourselves as spoiled sensationalists.
F'ing R.E.M. song? Downhill? Careful or I'll unsubscribe...
Nice to hear from Honest Frank Kruesi!
I don't know who my favourite chicagoist is, but when shannon says every time she hears the name 'rockville' she can't get that damned rem song out of her head -- which is EXACTLY what happens when i hear 'rockville,' i smile a little because i know that maybe i'm not the only one whose mind does weird things like that. [However, i don't think you really want to know what goes on in my mind when i hear the term 'suspicious package.']
There are a couple other chicagoistas who i look forward to reading and a couple who occassionally infuriate me, but that's life and its not like they're all being paid loads of cash or even, well, paid, so ...
don't get me wrong, old REM's fine in my book. but that song's so dour and whiny.. and it's one of those that just sticks and sticks and it takes an act of god to get it out.
thanks for the kind words, james.
When the trains were stopped on the tracks, I wonder if the train conductor said "Take a break Driver 8".
Are the trains slower than they once were? Yes. Have they had a couple non-critical accidents recently? Yes. These are not good things, but they represent small deviations from otherwise reliable service. Until you are ready to pay and advocate for $5 fares, or make serious appeals to the state legislature for increased funding, then there is nothing to complain about.
I'm sorry, but my CTA commute has doubled in the last few months, and that's when there's not a problem like the smoking train the other morning. I'd say that doubling the length of my commute every day is a bit more than a minor diversion.
Also, why are you advocating appeals to the state legislature when the city won't pony up more for CTA service? Daley would rather spend tax money on the Olympic money pit than fix the CTA. The city should take much more of the blame for this than the state.
see, now, "driver 8" i can totally get behind. and moreover, i really wish i'd thought of that joke.
I've been stomping around my apartment singing "Go Tell It On The Mountain" for the last three days, so I'd be absolutely thrilled to have an REM song in my head right about now.
I was on that car on that train; it was hard seeing what the people were going through: We took nothing when evacuating as we thought it would be a short check - not hours.
One lady had just had surgery and took the train because her DR. would not let her fly. One mother of three had an infant for whom she had to beg a diaper from a comuter- who thankfully came along; one couple was on their first visit to US from England; several older people had bad arthritis and had to be helped up and down stairs when the train was cleared.One fellow who talked with the news media was a friend of a 9-11 fire fighter who had lost his life, so was wearing an honary shirt in his memory; One man was blind.
Those are just a few of the ones on that car. Everyone has a story, but this made the trip especially hard for many. We thank the Amtrak employee who did his job. Amtrak needs to find better ways to help on stranded or stopped trains-even if it is getting people to bathroom facilities and handing out water!