CTA Tattler

Excuse me, but aren't the platforms, with their short canopies, designed (perhaps inadvertently) to keep passengers in the center cars? Who wants to stand in the rain so they can board the first or last car?

The time for one TRAIN to get into the loop is only one measure of the effect of three-tracking. The time it takes for a PERSON to get into the loop might be longer if she is unable to board the first (or second!) train that shows up.

The canopies have always been short - maybe two to three cars at most. But yes, I agree; the combination of yuppie nostalgia and penny pinching has not been helpful on this project; so we're stuck with old canopies from the days when local trains were running just two to four cars for the modern reality of eight car trains, partly because they look "authentic" and partly because the project didn't have the money to build the full length version.

3mins?! BS!

Took me at least 10 minutes longer from Berwyn this morning. The announcement kind of pissed me off too. "Due to modernization of the Brown line, this Red line train will have to wait at the junction yada yada..."

I could care less about the brown line, but now I have to 'leave early and leave late' so it can get new stations. Ppor lil' Red line.

Out of curiosity, I have two questions on three-tracking:

1. Today and yesterday I saw an empty red line train camped out on the northbound tracks between Belmont and Southport. Presumably it turned around to go northbound, but how does that work?

2. When a train is delayed north of Belmont or Fullerton waiting for the train directly in front of it to leave the station, why must it wait so far back? Couldn't it stop immediately behind the train in front of it and then be in the station much more quickly?

Thanks.

My trip to the Loop via Red and Brown was also at least 10-12 minutes longer than normal. The backup North of Belmont was pretty bad, we didn't move for over 5 minutes. Then it was slow going between Belmont and Fullerton. I also noticed that the trains stop just past Diversey when there is a train in the station at Fullerton. Seems silly to stop nearly a half mile away. The signals should be reset to reflect the now slower speeds. The train in front of us was all the way to Armitage before we finally pulled into Fullerton. At least a minute or two could gave been saved if we could have stopped a block or two north of Fullerton.

Finally, has anyone noticed how hard it is at Belmont and Fullerton for the operator to see all the car doors now? The platform curves at both ends on the East side at both stations. With 6 car trains this wasn't an issue now that all but Purple have 8, it is kind of scary! There is quite a large gap between the train and the platform and the operator this morning was having a heck of a time seeing down the curved train. In fact, she had to ask someone on the platform to look down the train for her to see if all doors were clear to close. 18 months of this, argh.

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Couldn't it stop immediately behind the train in front of it and then be in the station much more quickly?
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At one time, before block signals, that's the way it was done.

You can read about some of the results of that practice here: http://www.chicago-l.org/mishaps/index.html#accidents

Essentially, you should be very happy that they don't pull up that close!

They need to update that accidents and mishaps list; I was on the "rear ending" in what, 2001?

Sharon, that lack of visibility is why they are redoing the platforms and stations, won't it be nice, but I did notice that one of them - the new ones - seems to still be two short (esp. for a ten car train) and seems to curve a bit at the ends...

So 8-car trains mean fewer trains are coming (i.e. less often) but CTA says it's working better.

Can someone explain where they're putting the other brownline train cars that don't fit in Kimball yard? Did CTA learn the disappearing train trick?

Well I travel from Wilson to the Loop and it has been taking longer than 3 min over "normal". We stood at Addison for at least 5 min just waiting and then as we inched along it took another 10 min to get into Belmont.

And today at Belmont there were a bunch of CTA employees at the end of the platform commenting on the big gap between the curve of the platform and the 8th car on the Brown lines. I guarantee that gap is going to trip someone up before this whole thing is over with.

My commute has been fine, but then I take the bus and all the clueless people are on it now blocking the doors. I did take the el in the morning yesterday though and it wasn't more than a couple minutes slower than usual and the train was a whole lot less crowded too.

Marcus, there are fewer trains to be kept in the brown line yards due to the trains being split up and added to the longer trains (one assumes). (I assume you mean the trains "not being used" as opposed to trains between runs, right?)

55mins from Berwyn to Lake today.

I second whodat jones--this is also the third day in a row I have had to take a NB redline(from my usual Lawrence stop) up to Berwyn simply in order to find a SB train that wasn't jam-packed.

What do you mean by jam-packed? No seats or not able to board end cars?

In Chicago, "jam-packed" usually means a bunch of people are standing near the door even though there's plenty of empty space in the middle of the car. (sigh)

I've seen buses pass people by when there were no standees further back than in front of the back door.

The trains and buses have the capacity. It's some of the passengers who don't have the capacity to understand what's expected of them.

Excellent comment on rolling stock vs. passenger capacity, Rusty. I'm still laughing. Maybe we need to start singing "The Wheels on the Bus" while riding CTA: "The driver on the bus says MOVE ON BACK, MOVE ON BACK!" Everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten....

Rusty, thanks, that's spot on! Can we please remind people at the rear too; if you're on an express bus and not getting off at the first or second stop after the express portion (or right before it goes express) STAND CLEAR OF THE DOORS! I think some people enjoy being hassled out of the way and hassling people getting off the bus sometimes.

Good question--To clarify, by "jam-packed" I mean the following:
1)No seats
2)People standing near both doorways
3) People standing pretty much all the way through the middle aisle.

While it would have been physically possible for me to board the train, I was at the freaking Berwyn stop. I'd rather stand and wait on the platform for 20 minutes than board that nightmare. Besides, all the trains seem to catch up/bunch up south of fullerton, so it's not like boarding the packed trains would have gotten me down 20 minutes sooner than waiting.

^exactly! Anyone who wants to board a loosely packed train at Berwyn can be my guest. By the time it gets to Sheridan, you'll be out of your comfort zone and wishing you didn't jump on.

* Beware of the steamy train come Summmer! *

So instead of getting on at Berwyn, you go backwards to get on at an earlier stop. Hmmm.

So when it gets back to Berwyn, is it not just as packed as if you hadn't got back to an earlier stop? And by the time you get to Sheridan, is it not just as packed?

And if all trains bunch up south of Fullerton, doesn't the later train also bunch up? And after that bunch up, aren't you 20 minutes later than if you took the train that passed you 20 minutes earlier?

Seems to me if that train you went backwards to an earlier stop to catch isn't as crowded by Sheridan as the other train was, OR if waiting 20 extra minutes gets you on a train that doesn't get delayed south of Fullerton as much as the earlier train, the answer is simple: RIDE EARLIER OR LATER.

IMHO, if the train really is packed to the gills, the people who have it the worst are those who got on it earlier. They may have a seat, but they are crammed in the train for a longer ride, and many times with someone's ass right in front of their face.

I'd rather be the guy who pushes someone further in the train so the door can close without pinching my ass, than be the guy who has to spend twice as long on that train with someone's ass in their face.

And if more people would push their way in, other people might be more inclined to stand in the middle of the car instead of at the door to avoid being pushed every day at every stop. (Then again, maybe those people do enjoy being pushed around.)

I used to do that when I worked downtown. Once in a while, at Clark & Lake, I would wait so long for a Blue line to come with any room at all that I would take one back to Jackson, usually, or possibly LaSalle, & wait for one back out to O'Hare. Hey, you get an inside seat, it's usually all right, and by the time I got off, there was plenty of room.
Of course, heading home, you aren't on as tight a schedule as you are going to work.

I guess my point is, if I'm going to be in a packed train anyway(which is every morning, 3-tracking or no), I'd rather be 20 minutes late and have a comfortably LONG ride (standing near the train ends, or middle aisle, or--ideally--sitting), than stand in inches from the doors a jam-packed train and having to move or be pushed at every single stop along the way)from Berwyn all the way down to Jackson.

If I lived at Belmont or further south, I'd have no problem standing in a packed train every day, in exchange for a shorter commute. But, living north of Wilson, I fail to see the necessity of that. So yes, I DID leave later today.

The purpose of riding back a couple of stops is to get a seat, not have more standing room. Obviously if the train is already packed and I must board, then of course I'd rather be the last guy on the train. However, being at an earlier stop in the line changes everything.

I'll take an occasional bookbag, purse, or *cough* azz to the face anyday over CTA train surfing for 50mins.