23 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

WMAQ-TV (NBC 5), Chicago, IL 11/16/23

 

38 people injured after train crash involving CTA

 

CTA says the crash occurred when a Yellow Line train made contact with "rail equipment" in the Howard Rail Yard

 

Editor's Note: This is a developing news story, and the number of injured people may change. We're keeping track of updates in our live blog here, and in our original story below.

 

As many as 38 people were injured in a train crash Thursday morning that involved a Chicago Transit Authority train, fire officials confirm.

 

According to the Chicago Fire Department, the crash happened at 7519 N. Paulina, between Evanston and Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

 

SNIP

 

According to the Evanston Fire Department, the CTA has shut off power to the Red and Purple lines.

 

 

More here with video report.  

[CNJRoss]

Chicago (IL) Tribune, 11/16/23

 

Two dozen taken to hospitals after CTA Yellow Line crashes into snow plow

 

Nearly two dozen people were taken to the hospital after a CTA Yellow Line train struck a piece of agency equipment on the tracks Thursday morning near the border of Evanston and Chicago, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

 

Thirty-eight people were seen by paramedics, including seven CTA employees, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. Of those, 23 were taken to the hospital in varying conditions, including four children, he said.

 

Three people were in serious-to-critical condition, but their injuries were not believed to be life threatening, Langford said.

 

Around 10:35 a.m., a two-car Yellow Line train that was carrying passengers rounded a curve and hit a snow plow moving in the same direction on the same track, about 300 yards from the Howard station, fire department officials said. The Yellow Line train, also called a Skokie Swift, was moving at a normal speed, but the snow plow was moving slower, he said.

 

 

Continue here.  

 

[steve4031]

The snowplow and the train were moving in the same direction.

https://l.smartnews.com/p-ZKPRG/gwKX0M

[CNJRoss]

X (formerly known as Twitter)

 

NTSB Newsroom

 

@NTSB_Newsroom

 

NTSB is launching a team to investigate the collision of a CTA train and rail equipment in Chicago. Spokesperson on scene will be NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.

 

3:36 PM · Nov 16, 2023

 

 

[CNJRoss]

WLS-TV (ABC 7), Chicago, IL 11/17/23

 

CTA Yellow Line service remains suspended after train crash injures 38 at Howard Station

 

CTA shuttle buses running between Howard, Dempster

 

CHICAGO (WLS) -- NTSB crews continue their investigation Friday morning into what lead up to a CTA train crash that injured dozens of people.

 

Meanwhile, train service on the Yellow Line remains suspended Friday morning, with shuttle bus service available between Howard and Skokie/Dempster.

 

 

Continue here with video report.

[CNJRoss]

WMAQ-TV (NBC Chicago), 11/17/23

 

NTSB investigating after CTA train crash leaves as many as 38 injured

 

CTA has not provided further details on what led up to the crash

 

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation after a Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line train crashed into a piece of snow plow equipment on the track in Chicago Thursday morning, leaving as many as 38 people injured.

 

It's one of the largest CTA train crashes in decades, NBC5 Investigates found.

 

SNIP

 

Radio traffic sheds light on CTA Yellow Line crash, one of worst in agency's history

 

NBC 5 obtained audio of the CTA traffic control tower trying to get in contact with a CTA train operator, moments before the derailment.

 

"The striking thing about this audio is the timing of it," NBC 5 Investigates noted. More than an hour before the crash, we hear a warning that a maintenance vehicle will be on the tracks in the area where the collision eventually occurs. Then the audio gets more frantic in the moments before the crash.

 

SNIP

 

Lawsuit filed against CTA following crash

 

Clifford Law Offices promptly filed a lawsuit against the CTA on Thursday shortly after the crash on behalf of a 52-year-old man who was a passenger on the train on his way to see a friend.

 

"Snow plow equipment on a train track," Henry Simmons of Clifford Law said. "It's 62 degrees today in Chicago. Why is that, or any other equipment, on the same rail as an L train transporting passengers?"

 

 

More here with video report.

[CNJRoss]

Note:  This briefing is mostly about NTSB procedure.  The NTSB investigation is just starting.  There is very little infromation regarding the accident,

 

NTSB Media Brief - Chicago, Illinois CTA Train Collision

 

NTSBgov

 

November 17, 2023: NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy briefs the media in Chicago, Illinois, on the NTSB investigation of the November 16 collision of a CTA train and rail equipment.

 

[CNJRoss]

WBBM-TV (CBS 2), Chicago, IL 11/18/23

 

Federal investigators point to design flaw as possible cause for CTA Yellow Line train crash  

 

CHICAGO (CBS) – Federal investigators said the CTA Yellow Line crash that resulted in dozens of injuries might have happened because of a design problem that prevented the train from stopping before striking snow equipment on the tracks.

 

During a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the investigation team determined the design problem made it so the breaking distance the train had was 1,780 feet, about 1,000 feet shorter than newer systems.

 

Investigators did not detect any obvious errors on the part of the driver, who was slowing the car at the time of the crash. The CTA knew the equipment was on the track ahead of the train and they were trying to stop.

 

Homendy stressed the findings she shared on Saturday were preliminary and that more investigation needs to take place.

 

"The breaking distance should have been longer," Homendy said, referring to the CTA's system. "A brand new system today, with the same track, they should have had 2,745 feet to stop that train ... not 1,780 feet. That is a design problem."

 

 

Continue here with video report.  

[CNJRoss]

NTSB B Roll - CTA Train Collision with Rail Equipment

 

NTSBgov

 

Nov 18, 2023

 

NTSB investigators walk the scene of the Nov. 16 collision of a CTA train and rail equipment in Chicago, Illinois.

 

[CNJRoss]

Patch - Skokie, IL, 11/17/23

 

Passengers Hurt In CTA Yellow Line Crash Begin Filing Lawsuits

 

A Skokie architect was "bounced around like a pinball" from the force of the collision, according to his attorneys.

 

CHICAGO — Passengers injured in Thursday's CTA Yellow Line crash have begun filing lawsuits against the Chicago Transit Authority.

 

SNIP

 

Cleon Hawkins, a 52-year-old Chicago man among those hospitalized for injuries suffered in the crash, was the first plaintiff to file suit. He was followed by 67-year-old Skokie architect Matt Jones.

 

“This type of crash was completely preventable,” said attorney Joseph Murphy, a partner at Clifford Law Firm who represents both men, in a statement.

 

According to their complaints, CTA officials were negligent by allowing the equipment to remain on the tracks in an unsafe manner, failing to operate and maintain the rail system in a safe and reasonable way or by operating it in such a way as to cause the train to collide with the CTA equipment.

 

 

More here.