CTA Tattler

It doesn't take one long to realize that the CTA definition of immediately is "five minutes away, also crush-loaded full of people."

The place I most frequently hear this is Run 812 on the morning southbound Red Line. Why is he always so late? (Everyone who commutes on the line around that time knows his voice -- "Good morning Red Line passengers" seems to start off every announcement. Of which there are many, as at every station he has to tell the long-waiting passengers to back off.)

Don't starters at various stations record times the trains arrive? Are they covering for this guy? How does the CTA not know how consistently late he is?

Our train yesterday had 1 "follower" and by the next station we had 2 "followers". I was disappointed when we didn't have 3 "followers" at the third station.

Some train operators are just much slower through the stations, and when there is a slow one in the heart of rush hour it can bollocks up a whole line.

Riding the last car on the blue line in the morning, I notice the same operator regularly overshooting his correct 8-car stopping point. Then there are 2-3 cars worth of people left behind the train who are trying to jam into the last car. This really delays boarding and if he does this at every station there's no doubt why he's always late.

I heard that one a lot at the Chicago and State station on nights when there were Cubs games. Now I pay attention to their schedule and find an alternative way to get home when they're playing night games.

That's funny: skipping a packed train and waiting for the next one is something that almost always works for me. I do this a lot, especially when going home from O'Hare with a luggage cart. Nothing worse than having to stand on the train with that thing, so when I make the transfer at Jackson or Washington, I usually wait and am glad I did.

My worst was when I picked up a new suit from a tailor downtown and thought I'd have time to pop home and hang it up on my lunch hour, then had to wait for the FIFTH Red Line train at Washington before there was room for me. Cubs game.

What's with the operator who wears the striped engineer's overalls and floppy hat, who screeches "USE THE NEAREST AVAILABLE DOOR!" almost before the doors have even opened?

Also the other day, another operator halted the train in the tunnel and blasted, "You do that again, I WILL call the police, and you WILL go to jail!" No further explanation. I spent the rest of the trip wondering whether it was me; perhaps my elbow had hit the emergency call button...I was standing next to that, under the blue light. I have a feeling it was something worse, though, like someone pulling the red thing to try to open a door while the train was under way.

"skipping a packed train and waiting for the next one is something that almost always works for me."

I don't mind skipping a train. It's when it's six trains in a row that I start rethinking my transit options.

that's the best argument for a monthly pass and chicago card ... many times i've gone down to the chicago/state red line and seen it's too crowded, so i've walked to teh chicago/franklin brown line. same trip and no extra fare. geez, i sound like carole brown.

I go back and get on an express bus, but it's the same principle.

The worst part is that I usually get sucked in with The Big Lie. Even though my brain keeps telling me, "No, Kim, they always say that," I usually get my hopes up anyway. It's very sad.

This is hilarious that I found this posting today. I was actually at Belmont yesterday when this occurred. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "I need to send a note to the Tattler on this one."

The thing that bugged me was when the announcement was made as the first Brown Line was at Belmont, it really wasn't that unbearable. I just thought that if there is another one directly behind this I might have a shot at a seat. Boy was I wrong.

When the Cubs are playing at night I get on the Red line at Grand as usual but go southbound until I see fairly empty northbound trains and reasonably uncrowded platforms across the way. Usually it's just to Jackson; once I went to Harrison. It's faster than waiting for a train I can squeeze onto at Grand. Fortunately, there's just one more night game (the 27th).

since moving to blue line territory, i find that more often than not this phrase is pretty true. when you hit the jam-packed train and skip it, the one right behind arrives within 1-2 minutes, which is as immediate as they can run, really, no? with the general 5 minutes between trains during rush hour, i'm OK with this.

Yesterday evening during the abysmal delayed commute home (and rain-delayed Cubs game), I skipped a red line at Fullerton because it was too crowded. The driver announced the "dirrectly following" B.S., and sure enough, the next Red Line didn't come for fifteen minutes (5:30 p.m.). By this time, three Browns and two (!) Purples had unloaded more people onto the platform to fight their way onto the late Red. My regular 0:45-minute commute took 1:20. But the robot announcement sounded really sincere when he apologized for the delay and regretted the inconvenience, so who am I to complain?

anyone ever look at the brownline rush hour schedule. 20 trains between 5-6pm! When they say there's a train directly behind, they're not kidding.

The operator with "striped overalls and a floppy hat" is Greg Davis, the same guy profiled here. He now works on the Red Line.

Why operators try to get people to board at the first available door is that they want to spend as little time in the station as possible. If people scurry around, it increases the chances of delays and a bottleneck behind the train, even if a few extra people get on THAT train.

If you folks really care abiut service, you would have complained when they got rid of conductors.

I did complain when they got rid of conductors. I complained quite a bit, actually, because when they first got rid of conductors, people took up smoking on the trains because I guess they thought they wouldn't get caught.

Greg Davis is *not* the screamer. I've had both conductors regularly, and Mr. Davis frequently when he was working on the purple line. The screamer has been working the red line for a few years and he's the same guy who hollers that he'll call the police, he's the same one who yells in the subway stations and deafens the passengers. I understand the need to tell the passengers to use the first available doors, just not to scream it and bother all the passengers. I've heard train operators remind passengers in much more tolerable tones, and it's equally effective.

Conductors no longer exist. His majesty Daley 8 years ago got rid of them, he felt the passengers no longer needed them. It's just that people run past several cars, and run up to head car, as if the operator/Motorman is supposed to protect them. If passengers feel they need to be protected, they why didn't they holler like holly hell when they were done away with?

Who is the blue line operator who says "good morning, good morning, good morning" followed by a rather routine message about the trains? Do riders appreciate it? I find the p.a. system makes the voice extremely shrill for 8 a.m. On the other hand, the personal touch is nice.

I originally posted this in the comments on 8/21 http://www.ctatattler.com/2005/07/tell_us_your_cr.html

Glad to see someone is reading those....haven't heard "The Big Lie" myself since I posted that....

I've e-mailed a complaint about the "screamer" on the Red Line. I heard him scream one too many times yesterday northbound from Clark to Granville. He also has a fetish for playing the automated announcements several times each and at the wrong times. "Doors closing" happens at least three times per station. He seems really unbalanced, and I complained with specifics. They say they're looking into it.