Train problems spell trouble for commuters
A woman was struck and killed by a CTA train at the Wellington Avenue stop on Chicago's North Side Thursday during a morning full of problems on the el system.
Chicago police received a call that a woman had been struck by a Brown Line train at 945 W. Wellington Ave. at 11:07 a.m., said police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak. The death is being investigated as a suicide, she said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office declined to release information about the death pending notification of the woman's family.
Tens of thousands of commuters had faced delays earlier that morning on southbound rush hour Red, Brown and Purple line trains.
The CTA's difficulties -- and those of its passengers -- began with a power outage around 7 a.m.on the North Side, which shut down elevated train signals near Barry Avenue. Barely an hour later, a Brown Rail train operator reported a break in the track just south of Armitage Avenue, and CTA officials stopped trains on that section of the elevated system. Just two hours later, the woman was killed at Wellington Avenue.
Attempting to alleviate the congestion, CTA officials rerouted some southbound Brown Line trains south of Fullerton Avenue onto the Red Line's subway tracks into the Loop until about 11:30 a.m. Commuters on other trains were shuttled by bus to Red Line subway stations.
Emergency medical officials were called after one man fainted during the delay, said Kevin Jones, first district relief engineer for the Chicago Fire Department. Jones said the man later recovered.
"I was very inconvenienced," Simmons admitted. But, he added, "I take the train every day. It's usually a good ride."
Chicago police received a call that a woman had been struck by a Brown Line train at 945 W. Wellington Ave. at 11:07 a.m., said police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak. The death is being investigated as a suicide, she said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office declined to release information about the death pending notification of the woman's family.
Tens of thousands of commuters had faced delays earlier that morning on southbound rush hour Red, Brown and Purple line trains.
The CTA's difficulties -- and those of its passengers -- began with a power outage around 7 a.m.on the North Side, which shut down elevated train signals near Barry Avenue. Barely an hour later, a Brown Rail train operator reported a break in the track just south of Armitage Avenue, and CTA officials stopped trains on that section of the elevated system. Just two hours later, the woman was killed at Wellington Avenue.
Attempting to alleviate the congestion, CTA officials rerouted some southbound Brown Line trains south of Fullerton Avenue onto the Red Line's subway tracks into the Loop until about 11:30 a.m. Commuters on other trains were shuttled by bus to Red Line subway stations.
Emergency medical officials were called after one man fainted during the delay, said Kevin Jones, first district relief engineer for the Chicago Fire Department. Jones said the man later recovered.
"I was very inconvenienced," Simmons admitted. But, he added, "I take the train every day. It's usually a good ride."
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