Xing
Dec 19, 2006, 7:30 PM
CTA train derails
By Jeremy Gorner
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 19, 2006, 1:03 PM CST
CTA elevated tracks shared by the Orange and Green Lines in Chicago's South Loop were shut down this afternoon following a train derailment that forced the evacuation of roughly two dozen passengers, authorities said.
Ten ambulances were sent to the scene of the derailed northbound Orange Line train. The rear car of the four-car train left the tracks around 11:40 a.m. just south of the Roosevelt Road station, authorities said.
The Chicago Fire Department escorted stranded passengers from the train and transported them to the ground using a snorkel basket, fire department spokesman Larry Langford said.
One person suffered an apparent anxiety attack, and another may have had an asthma attack, Langford said. Those two individuals and other passengers were being examined by paramedics at the scene. No serious injuries were reported.
Passenger Aisha Parker, 28, was in the rear car when it derailed. "The train was going around the turn, and it started shaking real loud," she said.
Immediately after the derailment, the train came to a stop and passengers started to stand up, Parker said. She then noticed the car was leaning and said she feared a shift in weight might cause the train to fall off the elevated tracks.
"I said, 'We're leaning, we're leaning. Everybody sit still,' "she recalled.
Power was temporarily shut off along the tracks, and the CTA was providing a shuttle bus for stranded Green and Orange Line riders, said Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman Wanda Taylor.
Due to the derailment, shuttle buses were operating in both directions between the Roosevelt and 35th-Bronzeville-IIT stations for Green Line commuters, according to the CTA's Web site. At Roosevelt, customers can take a Red Line train or the No. 29 State bus to continue their commute.
The two extremities of the Green Line were operating—from Oak Park/River Forest to the Loop on the north and west, and from Ashland/63rd and 63rd/Cottage Grove to 35th Street on the south.
Orange Line trains were operating between Midway Airport and the Halsted station, where passengers were advised to transfer to the No. 62 Archer bus to complete their trips into the Loop. Also, shuttle buses were operating in both directions between Halsted and Roosevelt.
Chicago police cordoned off Wabash and State Street for several blocks south of 13th Street.
Tribune staff reporter Mitch Dudek contributed.
I was just there the other night, and I took these photos.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/Xing500/SLoop1-060.jpg
By Jeremy Gorner
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 19, 2006, 1:03 PM CST
CTA elevated tracks shared by the Orange and Green Lines in Chicago's South Loop were shut down this afternoon following a train derailment that forced the evacuation of roughly two dozen passengers, authorities said.
Ten ambulances were sent to the scene of the derailed northbound Orange Line train. The rear car of the four-car train left the tracks around 11:40 a.m. just south of the Roosevelt Road station, authorities said.
The Chicago Fire Department escorted stranded passengers from the train and transported them to the ground using a snorkel basket, fire department spokesman Larry Langford said.
One person suffered an apparent anxiety attack, and another may have had an asthma attack, Langford said. Those two individuals and other passengers were being examined by paramedics at the scene. No serious injuries were reported.
Passenger Aisha Parker, 28, was in the rear car when it derailed. "The train was going around the turn, and it started shaking real loud," she said.
Immediately after the derailment, the train came to a stop and passengers started to stand up, Parker said. She then noticed the car was leaning and said she feared a shift in weight might cause the train to fall off the elevated tracks.
"I said, 'We're leaning, we're leaning. Everybody sit still,' "she recalled.
Power was temporarily shut off along the tracks, and the CTA was providing a shuttle bus for stranded Green and Orange Line riders, said Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman Wanda Taylor.
Due to the derailment, shuttle buses were operating in both directions between the Roosevelt and 35th-Bronzeville-IIT stations for Green Line commuters, according to the CTA's Web site. At Roosevelt, customers can take a Red Line train or the No. 29 State bus to continue their commute.
The two extremities of the Green Line were operating—from Oak Park/River Forest to the Loop on the north and west, and from Ashland/63rd and 63rd/Cottage Grove to 35th Street on the south.
Orange Line trains were operating between Midway Airport and the Halsted station, where passengers were advised to transfer to the No. 62 Archer bus to complete their trips into the Loop. Also, shuttle buses were operating in both directions between Halsted and Roosevelt.
Chicago police cordoned off Wabash and State Street for several blocks south of 13th Street.
Tribune staff reporter Mitch Dudek contributed.
I was just there the other night, and I took these photos.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/Xing500/SLoop1-060.jpg