CTA finishes O'Hare-Rosement Blue Line work early
The CTA has finished slow zone work on the Blue Line between O'Hare and Rosemont four days early.
"With the completion of this work, we now have reduced the number of slow zones on the CTA system to just over
11 percent, down from a high of22.5 percent last Fall,” said CTA President Ron Huberman. “Our efforts to eliminate slow zones continue to speed rail service for customers and improve commute times. Speeds in this area now can resume up to55 miles per hour rather than the15 miles per hour in place prior to this work.”
I do have to give the CTA lots of credit for finishing most work earlier than planned. The CTA noted that slow zone work between Jefferson Park and Addison will begin in August.
"The 06 map does not show the blue line in a slow zone area from harlem to ohare, whereas the january 08 map does."
Yes, and even after the Blue line tunnel was slow zoned, track inspectors didn't catch that the Jefferson Park to O'Hare extension built under Mayor Byrne, which had tracks whose serial numbers matched STOLEN tracks from western Illinois, happened to also not have the proper(substandard) "bedding?"/support & ties and were falling apart underneath.
They DID notice AFTER a train derailed on a straight section between Harlem and Jefferson Park, due to the track collapsing. Right after that, the section between Jefferson Park and O'Hare was marked with progressively slower and slower slow zones until repairs, which included digging up under the ties, etc and replacing/repairing it. The Addison to Jefferson Park section must have been "known" maintenance based on when it was built to today, because more and more slow zones were popping up as the other section was getting repaired.
Posted by: John T | July 25, 2008 at 08:33 AM
btw, the stolen tracks were from an abandoned railway, according to the Walter Jacobson Special Report I remember seeing...
Posted by: John T | July 25, 2008 at 08:41 AM
btw, the stolen tracks were from an abandoned railway, according to the Walter Jacobson Special Report I remember seeing...
Posted by: John T | July 25, 2008 at 08:41 AM
The idea that the federal government is going to indict somebody at the CTA for fixing the blue line is kind of kooky.
It's not uncommon to deem "capital" those major expenditures whose benefits will last for many years. Operating budgets are generally geared towards recurring (e.g., annual) costs, not once-in-a-generation costs such as the blue line slow zone project.
Posted by: stillwaiting | July 26, 2008 at 03:17 AM
So KevinB, so how do you know that the train driver wasn't ignoring a slow zone?
Posted by: nd | July 28, 2008 at 10:33 AM
I thought the slow zones were electronically tagged, hence the beeps to "slow down"
KevinB
Posted by: KevinB | July 28, 2008 at 01:53 PM
I don't think all of them are, particularly temporary ones. I remember when Southport first closed, it was about a 50/50 split of motormen who would zoom through at top speed, and those who would proceed at slow speed.
I believe the reason they were able to do this was that the signal block that indicated the slow zone was small enough that if you blew through fast enough, the 2.5 seconds (or whatever) before the train was automatically stopped wouldn't occur until you were in a new block.
But that's just guessing. On the basic issue though, I'm pretty sure they don't update the train control systems for temporary slow zones. Just signs.
Posted by: Josh | July 28, 2008 at 04:51 PM
so if slow zones are down to 11% why did my ride on the brown line last night from the loop to addison take an hour and not travel over 20mph?
Posted by: mna | July 31, 2008 at 10:26 AM