June 3, 2008
Another Derailment
A Red Line train derailed early this morning near 95th Street. The 14 passengers all walked off the four-car train, but one was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
A man who was traveling on the train said he thought the train operator may have "overshot" a switch or light and when the operator backed the train up, the train derailed. The exact cause is under investigation.
Service was restored around 4am. [Trib, S-T, CBS 2]
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who needs the thrill rides of Great America when you have the CTA.
Interesting... This derailment occurred right along side the newly reconstructed Dan Ryan which cost a cool billion ($975,000,000 to be exact). That project was only $425 million over budget.
When the CTA needs only $50 million to keep running it is pulling teeth with threats of canceled service to get the money. Everyone love to *rail* on the CTA about inefficiencies and missmanagement but it really burns me that there is no public outcry when a project that caters to gas guzzlers and pollution creation goes nearly 100% over budget.
These derailments will continue to occur until we fully fund both the capital and operating costs of the CTA. This is not a matter of finding the money but a matter of priorities: Cars, congestion, and pollution or trains, buses, and a better environment.
@dopplerd -- How are the derailment and the Dan Ryan reconstruction in any way connected? I'm not really sure I see your point (other than the fact that the project was over budget....a budget that is earmarked in a completely different way than CTA budget, and neither of which shall meet).
FRP: I'm just trying to point out the priorities of our society when it comes to transportation. The connection comes from the expressway and the train line serving the same area. How many people pay nothing for their daily use of the billion dollar Dan Ryan everyday?
Can I get a moratorium on any form of the phrase "gas guzzler"? Must every motor vehicle guzzle its gas?
Slaphappy: No and No
Only $50 million? The CTA has a budget of around $1.3 billion. Labor costs alone run $800,000,000.
Rebuilding the South Red Line cost like $500,000,000 a few years ago.
Fixing slow zones on the Blue Line costs way up in nine figures.
Cermak Pink Line Branch? $550,000,000.
And while you may not use the Dan Ryan because I'm sure you've never been in a car, you almost certainly have purchased food, clothes, beer, etc... that were shipped in on trucks using that expressway. You're as much a part of the "problem" as the person commuting from 130th street everyday.
How many people pay nothing for their daily use of the billion dollar Dan Ryan everyday?
zero. everything that you see around you has been transported here in some way/shape/form on a highway in some fashion - whether it be in raw materials or as a finished product....including the food that you eat. but hey, don't let common sense get in the way of your ridiculous point. i like the shot at fuel-inefficient autos though - it only took 2 posts for that to happen in this thread!
These derailments will continue to occur until we fully fund both the capital and operating costs of the CTA.
No. these derailments will continue to take place as long as the CTA/its operation is part of a political game that daley plays in order to fund his machine. throwing more money at the cta and the 10 people that stand around every construction project doing nothing will solve very little.
Can we get that Chicago School artist to draw a picture of an El train sliding off its track with the Olympic rings printed as the destination on the car?
Last time I looked at the DR trucks were outnumbered by cars with a single passenger by about 100 to 1. The 12 lanes of the DR are not necessary to facilitate food and product transport, they are there for passenger cars. The express lanes don't even allow trucks!
Again, my point was one of our societal priorities with respect to transportation. All the vitriol surrounding people defending the passenger car paradigm seems to reinforce where those priorities are.
are you guys trying to say that americans aren't car oriented? i LOVE to drive when i can (i don't own a car, but i really do enjoy driving, and i have fantasies of having this nice, hot sports car one day), but america has built its "american dream" on the idea of the highway, the suburb, the single family home and the car/two car garage.
i'm afraid that we're just not going to do anything about real mass transit solutions (and i'm talking about everywhere, not just fixing the CTA) until gas is $10/gal and it's some mad max-ian situation. then, as always, necessity and desperation will be the mother of invention.
Ron Huberman is a JINX!
dopplerd - what's your point? there is no connection between this derailment and people driving cars. your idea of just throwing money towards something in order to fix it is laughable - especially when you use a highway that connects milwaukee, chicago, indiana, and michigan as an example.
OK, for the third time!
My point is: There is an interesting contrast in the priorities of our society. A nearly $1/2 billion cost overrun for a road that is free for public use (so there is no cost recoup for nonusers) it is no biggy but when operating money for the RTA is in needed (remember the doomsdays in November and January) there is no one willing to find the money without drastic measures being taken.
People keep throwing out red herrings like "Roads are necessary for the transport of food and goods" and "[the Dan Ryan is] a highway that connects milwaukee, chicago, indiana, and michigan." This is true, but the reason for the size, scope, and cost of the DR reconstruction has little to do with truck transport and everything to do with passenger car commuting in the morning and early evening.
The money from just the Dan Ryan cost overrun could have gone to some other use; possibly improving and maintaining public transport or maybe a school or two. Again, it is simply an indicator of our society's priorities.
Do we need to revisit Econ 101?
Neither of the last two seem to have anything to do with funding (capital or operating), but on operator error. Seems like ragging on the CTA is just reflex these days.
Seems like ragging on the CTA is just reflex these days.
Well, when you've seen the system crumble significantly in the past decade or so, and are left with little hope that 1) Daley really gives a shit about mass transit; 2) Local and state leaders will actually fund the thing; and 3) The CTA and its employees would even manage to use that money in wise ways, perhaps you could understand the reflex.
Maybe the reflex is less than fair, and maybe one should feel bad about it, but then you are left with another 5-7 mile commute that takes longer riding than walking, or another CTA employee sleeping on the job or being rude, and the reflex kicks in again.
And two operator errors in about a week is hardly the way to erase that reflex, either.
Whether it is operator error or not is irrelevant. The system that is currently setup isn't working.
I don't think people would find comfort in knowing that multiple plane crashes within a few weeks were the result of operator error. CTA customers shouldn't either.
how is that irrelevant? by all indications, that is the cause of this and the prior accident. throwing more money at the cta won't solve anything.
i don't understand why society's priorities are off when we decide to overhaul a crumbling 8 lane highway that is bumper to bumper at points every day. people drive cars. deal with it. from what i can tell (i don't ride the red line) - the red line seems to function properly south of the loop.