The Weekly Breakdown #6, by Aaron M. Renn Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Note: This article is cross-posted between chi.general and misc.transport.urban-transit. Please redirect non-transit related followups to chi.general. CTA News and Rumors ------------------- Rail Car Rehab: The CTA is beginning a $341.8 million rehab of its 2600 series L cars. There are 598 of these purchased between 1981 and 1987. Fed Up Riders: It was another banner week for Letters to the Editor bashing the CTA. There was one in both the Sun-Times and the Tribune. [ Sorry, I forgot to clip them in order to get excerpts ] Factoid ------- Chicago used to be home to the world's largest cable car system. CTA Breakdowns -------------- 2/23 - John Paulus (shadowm@ripco.com) reports both turnstiles out of order at the South entrace to the Wilson L stop. Out of five total turnstiles at the stop (north and south) only 1 takes coins. 2/23 - Fare card reader out of order at Clark/Lake north side. Since there are only two, this caused a major backup stretching out into the street. I thought that was bad, but ... 2/23 - Two cars in a southbound CTA Red Line subway train came unhooked near the Grand Ave. station. This triggered emergency breaking, with resulted in some minor injuries, but no real harm. The subway was shut down for some time however, and southbound Howard trains were rerouted over the Loop elevated. The northbound Howard continued to run, but with substantial delays. Commuting chaos was the result of course (why do these things always happen at rush hour?). One northbound Howard rider said it took her nearly an hour and half to get home. On the plus side, the CTA let her in for free. By Thursday the CTA had posted their traditional "Apologies for any inconvenience" signs in the train. One thing of note on this accident is how badly the media botched the story. Shortly after the accident, WMAQ radio was spouting wild rumors about all sort of injuries or heart attacks that may have occured. (They were actually my source earlier in the week for the posting that referred to a "derailment". Serves me right for listening to them). The next day's papers were no better. At least one (I can't remember which) said that all southbound service had been suspended and that shuttle busses were in use instead of rail service. 2/24 - Fare card dispenser out of order at Washington/Wells 2/25 - Pulling out of North/Clybourn, the train jerks to a sudden stop just before it clears the station platform. We wait a couple minutes, experience a couple of jerking false starts, then go on our way. About the Weekly Breakdown -------------------------- The Weekly Breakdown is small Internet journal devoted to the trials and tribulations of being a regular rider of the Chicago Transit Authority. While it is primarily devoted to my experiences, I am happy to hear about an include yours. Just send mail to breakdown@urbanophile.com. Aaron.