North side rail service disruptions

Here's a comment I made in the previous post:

Chicagoj:

I promise you that I am trying to get to the bottom of what is going on with the chronic slow zones and switching problems during rush. I wish I could tell you when it was going to improve, but I can't. I can tell you, that I and the Board are committed to finding out how we can mitigate the problems surrounding the increased travel times on our rail. Sue Leonis, Vice Chair of the Board, and Chairman of the Construction Committee has called for a committee meeting. It is my intent at that meeting to suspend the 5 person limit [corrected from original] on public comment so that the entire Board can hear first hand our riders' frustration and so that staff can respond immediately to your questions. I invite you to attend. Date and time will be posted shortly.

And here is a CTA press statement on today's service disruptions:

For Immediate Release September 28, 2006

Rail Service Disruptions Result of Three Unrelated Occurrences

Throughout the morning, CTA customers on the North Side experienced service delays on the Brown and Red Lines, and Purple Line Express. In an unfortunate chain of three unrelated events – two of which were beyond control of CTA, and one involving a safety issue with a section of track – service was disrupted several times between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. CTA extends an apology to customers for the frustration and inconvenience they experienced as a result of the service disruptions. None of the incidents that took place earlier today will adversely impact this evening’s commute.

>> At approximately 7 a.m. a Com Ed power outage in the Lakeview neighborhood resulted in a loss of power to the train signal system at Barry Avenue. CTA staff went to the scene to manually operate signals to keep trains moving throughout the corridor, however, delays did occur on the Brown and Red Lines and Purple Line Express. The signal system resumed normal operation at approximately 9 a.m.

>> At approximately 8:10 a.m., a Brown Line rail operator reported a track irregularity at Larrabee just south of the Armitage station. A rail supervisor sent to the scene observed a gap in the running rail and, in the interest of safety, halted train traffic from operating on that section of track until repairs could be made.

To maintain service, southbound Brown Line trains were routed to Red Line tracks south of Fullerton and transported Loop bound customers through the subway.

A bus shuttle was set up southbound from Fullerton to Clark/Lake to help supplement Brown Line rail service. Brown Line trains operated normally northbound.

Southbound Purple Line Express trains operated via the Red Line from Fullerton to Roosevelt and returned northbound through the State Street subway and resumed normal routing at Fullerton.

There were four trains that had already passed Armitage station and had to pull back to the station and allow customers to exit. This took just over 90 minutes to complete. CTA buses were dispatched to Armitage to transport southbound customers that had to exit trains.

Repairs to the track were made and southbound Brown Line service resumed at approximately 10:15 a.m.

>> Just after 11 a.m. CTA received a report of a possible suicide attempt. A southbound Brown Line train made contact with a customer at Wellington station on the Brown Line. Power was removed from the tracks in order for emergency responders to access the track. Brown Line service from Southport to Clark/Lake was temporarily suspended in both directions. A bus shuttle was in place from Southport to Clark/Lake in both directions as a substitute for Brown Line service.

The Red Line was also impacted as it operates on tracks that pass Wellington and power had to be cut on all tracks. A bus shuttle was in place from Addison on the Red Line to State/Lake in both directions to substitute for Red Line service.

The Chicago Fire Department removed the victim from the tracks and power remained off while the Chicago Police Department investigated the scene. At approximately 1 p.m. power was restored and service resumed northbound and southbound on the Red and Brown Lines.

# # #

Moving Beyond Congestion

Today the Regional Transportation Authority began the 2007 budget process by adopting operating and capital funding marks for CTA, Metra, and Pace. The RTA Chairman and the executive directors of all four agencies held a press conference and issued a joint statement (PDF). Read the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

Transit … makes our region globally competitive. Our quality of life and standard of living are significantly enhanced by our transit network. While demand for transit is up throughout the region, thanks in part to high gas prices, funding for transit has not kept pace.

We are now at a crossroads. Either we modernize our transit network or we shrink it.

This decision will be made in 2007. The good news is that leaders from throughout the region are coming together to make this decision in 2007. All of the service boards and the RTA are united and working closely together … Over 230 community organizations, businesses, labor unions and local governments have come together as Partners for Transit to lend their voices to the great debate on the future of transit to our region.

...For the 2007 budget, we face a large operating and capital shortfall, because there has not been any new state capital funding for transit since Illinois FIRST, and because operating funding has not kept pace with 21^st century demand. For 2006 we stole more than $102 million in capital funds to keep the transit network running. No one wanted to do it.

… In 2007, all of the service boards have capital and operating deficits. The operating deficit alone is well in excess of $100 million. This demonstrates the need for a regional decision on our transit network. It is a big picture dialogue that needs to include residents and leaders from throughout Northeastern Illinois. The Moving Beyond Congestion project, launched July 25^th at Union Station, is our way of convening that dialogue.

But the future of transit isn’t our decision to make. We don’t own the transit network. The $27 billion asset of trains and buses and vanpools and stations and tracks belongs to the people of Northeastern Illinois. And together, we all need to decide whether we are going to invest in this asset or shrink it. That’s what the Moving Beyond Congestion project is all about. We intend to build a regional consensus for significant improvement and expansion of transit that will pay large dividends for years to come in increased economic activity, less road congestion and increased consumer savings from our transit network.

If the region wants to shrink the transit network, we’ll live with that decision and manage the transition. But we think people need to know the tremendous benefits from our transit network before voters and elected leaders decide how, and how much, to invest in their transit network.