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More than 30 people were injured this morning when a CTA train jumped the platform and climbed up an escalator at the end of the Blue Line at O'Hare International Airport, officials said.
“I heard a boom and when I got off the train, the train was all the way up the escalator. It’s a wreck,†Denise Adams, who was riding toward the back of the train, told reporters. “It was a lot of panic because it was hard to get people off the train."
Fire crews scrambled to determine if anyone was underneath the train but no one was found, according to Chicago Fire Commissioner Joe Santiago. All of the injured were aboard the train and were taken in fair or good condition to four hospitals, he said. The operator of the train "was walking and talking as we were investigating," Santiago said.
The eight-car train was wedged near the top of an escalator used by commuters at the Blue Line terminal. CTA spokesman Brian Steele said workers may have to cut up the car and remove it piece by piece, which could take 12 to 24 hours. Then the damage will have to be assessed and repairs made before trains use the station, he said.
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Steele did say the train was “apparently traveling at a higher rate of speed than a train would be†while pulling into the station and officials are trying to determine why. He said the National Transportation Safety Board was also investigating.
The accident happened around 2:50 a.m. "There is a stop down there for each track. There's three tracks there. The train actually climbed over the last stop, jumped up the sidewalk and went up the escalator," Santiago said.
Well no shit it was going at a higher rate of speed than it should have been! That thing had to be just flying through there. For those not familiar with it, the O'Hare stop is the terminus for the Blue Line, and it's also next to the marshaling yard for the CTA. As such, when one approaches O'Hare station, there are dozens of tracks on either side of you and lots of people working in the area, so it's not like you don't know you're close to the end of the line. Those "bumpers" at the end of the line are very substantial, and not only did this train have to blow through one of those, but also jump up probably three feet to get to the level of the concrete platform before then climbing the escalator.
Very fortunate that this happened at 3:00 in the morning, because just a little bit later, and that whole area would be filled with people, both people who work at the airport and those on their way to catch an early flight.
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