CTA Not Required To Shovel Train Platforms

By Lindsey Miller in News on Jul 15, 2010 8:40PM

Given the current weather, it seems strange to be thinking about snow but a new ruling today puts snow front and center. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that it's not the CTA's responsibility to remove ice and snow from train platforms. The problem: the court didn't specify whose responsibility it is. Surely it couldn't be the responsibility of the plaintiff of the case, Marianna Krywin, who was 71 back in January 2005 when she exited a Red Line train at Sheridan and slipped on snow and ice on the platform and fell, injuring her left leg.

She won her original case but after a series of appeals the court found that though the CTA does have a duty to provide a safe place for passengers to alight, "the consequences of imposing a duty on the CTA to inspect every platform every time a train was to discharge or take on passengers would bring the transit system to a standstill." The court ruled that the natural accumulation rule applied: natural accumulations of snow and ice are not the responsibility of property owners under law nor is it their responsibility to warn of danger.

Crain's notes that the ruling may also apply to other public transit stations and bus stops around the state.