CTA Tattler

The Brown Line expansion should have been better thought out as a whole. Some three tracking at Fullerton and Belmont would have been unavoidable, but having to suffer through three years of it is ludicrous. It didn't take them that freaking long to construct the entire line from scratch in the 1890s. The long station closures on the Brown are also a major embarrassment.

The fact is that we are stuck now and just have to endure it. Though the first time things melt down on the Northside Main (and it will soon) there is going to be a mob outside the CTA HQ with torches and all.

K, if you don't realize, it is easier to build things from scratch than to repair and replace the same thing.

I find no problem with this all. It had to happen. Sure, some things could've been managed better, but it'll never go exactly to plan and it will never please everyone. People should know by now that you just need to suck it up when these things happen.

There is sucking it up and there is taking it in the rear. We are doing the latter. I even acknowledged that some service reductions were indeed unavoidable.

The I drive past the Addison Brown Line station on at least weekly basis and I can tell you the pace of progress there is painfully slow. Replacing the stations on this line should not take that long once they are closed. They aren't doing track work on the line aside from power upgrades. Work at Belmont and Fullerton virtually sprints along compared to the rest of the line.

I try to read this site as much as possible, but I haven't been able to lately. But has anyone addressed the perplexing decision to run the Purple line on the Brown line tracks and not the Pink?

It was, according to the CTA, to simplify switching in the loop to send all Purple trains on the same route as Brown. It should also help if things get too bad in the Sate St. subway and passengers overflow on to the L to head north again. More northbound capacity from that side of the loop. That is also why they are staging Brown Line trains at the Midway Yard to be put into service on the SE side of the loop.

Maybe they're scheduling Fullerton and Belmont really pessimistically so that they can finish early and look like geniuses.

The CTA should of held back switching from a three-track configuration until after half the stations have been converted to handle eight cars. Since, Belmont and Fullerton can both handle eight cars because of the red line, there was no urgency to start construction. If they started working on alternating stations 6-8 months ago, then today the CTA could shut down the remaining six cars stations and switched to eight cars on the brown line. That is a 33% increase in capacity of each train. Using a three track at Belmont and Fullerton will not be that much of a problem.

* Stage 1 -
Kimball
Francisco
Western
Montrose
Addison
Southport
Wellington
Armitage

*Stage 2 - SHUT DOWN THESE STATIONS AND SWITCH TO EIGHT CARS
Kedzie
Rockwell
Damen
Irving Park
Paulina
Diversey
Sedgwick

*Stage 3 - REWARD THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES THAT CAME UNDER BUDGET AND ON TIME TO THESE THREE STATIONS
Belmont
Fullerton
Chicago

The problem between 1890 and now is that there are more ADA restrictions on stations that require more difficult structures to be built. Yes, our technology is better, but it's faster to throw up a wooden deck than it is to let concrete cure. Also, there's the issue of union labor and having strict regulations as to how long crews can work, etc.

Working 24 hours a day isn't possible because of unions. Blame them.

First, a prediction: Within a few days, they'll give up the charade of switching northbound Red trains to the inner track and send all of them through Diversey and Wellington. (I don't know what they'll do with the inbound trains. I've mostly switched to Metra and my bike, so it's not my problem.)

Now, just a few things that could have and should have been done differently:

1. Build island platforms at Diversey, with all trains stopping. There's no reason for the Red line to run express for a full mile through the most densely populated portion of its corridor.

2. (corollary to 1) Dump Wellington. The residents could be served very nearly as well with rear entrances to the Diversey and Belmont stations. (Yes, there's a big employer there, a large hospital that's proven to be every bit as transit- unsupportive as most large hospitals. Screw 'em.)

3. Explore other routings, like running trains into the subway, as once was done, or thru-running Orange and Brown trains. There's a dozen different ways to serve the branch, and while not all of them are optimal, but the legacy configuration that currently operates, which runs a whole lot of nearly empty trains between Kimball and Southport, isn't likely the most efficient way to move people either.

4. (corollary to 3) Short-turning trains ain't rocket science. Running empty trains to the end of the line and back is a great way to burn up your operating budget and keep operators busy, but it doesn't do much to move people.

Bill Bucks

I am a union employee and I take GREAT OFFENSE at your "blame the unions" comment. The reason that the CTA cannot work 24 hours on the Fullerton and Belmont stations is because they are in residential areas, it has nothing to do with union laborers who, by the way, worked nights and weekends on the Blue Line renovations.

I am so sick of how "Union Bashers" like you make all sorts of uneducated comments. Think about it: do you like the folling...

1) Child labor laws?
2) Safer working conditions?
3) A forty hour workweek with overtime and shift differential?
4) Healthcare benefits?
5) Properly trained construction workers, electricians, and plumbers?

Well, sir, you can "blame" the unions for those and so much more.

And another thing Bill Bucks, per your comment on "having strict regulations as to how long crews can work", do you really want over-worked, tired construction workers forced to work 14 hour days working on a project such as this? Here's an idea, the next time you feel like spouting off on how unions are so evil, keep your mouth shut until you get all of the facts. Then you can form a properly educated opinion!

I will make one educated comment, people like Ed should know that Bob posted that comment not me.