Subway Problems in Chicago?

This just coming in from FOX News, Chicago subway system is being evacuated due to smoke in the system...another terror attack on the same day as the one in India?

More to come...

According to FOX at the present time it seems it was an accident, not an act of terrorism. There are some people being treated for smoke inhalation, but no deaths at the current time.

Here's more info:

Posted on Tue, Jul. 11, 2006


CTA service suspended after reports of smoke

Associated Press

CHICAGO - A section of the city's transit system was shut down and commuters were evacuated during Tuesday's afternoon rush hour after authorities received reports of smoke in a subway line.

Service was shut down on Blue Line stations between downtown and the city's Wicker Park neighborhood, said Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi. The line connects downtown to O'Hare International Airport.

Emergency crews are on the scene to assist commuters and determine a cause. Antongiorgi said CTA hadn't received reports of flames, just smoke.

link

[edit on 11-7-2006 by Ivanova]

Skynews.

Train derailed.

I'm watching the local news in Chicago right now ... seems like there are conflicting reports of fire but there was definitely smoke. Many people are getting treatment at local hospitals for smoke inhilation, but it appears there are no other injuries.

An eyewitness is just being interviewed that said the train screeched to a halt, the lights dimmed, and the fire extinguishers went off in the tunnels. Then they got out of the trains and tried to get to the street in the smoke-filled tunnel.

This guy looks like a chimmney sweep .... covered in soot. Kinda scary.


[edit on 11-7-2006 by Fiverz]

Update ... one person was taken to a hospital in serious condition but it's unclear why.

They are showing people live coming out of the tunnels still (1hr 15min after this started) with black soot all over their face.

Word is over 60 injured...an 8 car train derailed on chicago's blue line.

electrical problem probably resulted in some sort of fire. That is probably what has happened here today.

FOX are covering other news and so are the other stations. Its just a fault that has sparked a fire.

People have managed to get out, which is great news

Officials from the CTA just said there WAS a fire and derailment due to the last set of wheels on the offending train malfunctioning.

the worst part so far was seeing a woman being helped from the subway to the main street level. she had black soot all around her mouth and nose...she was pregnant.

chicago's had this subway for decades upon decades. i've never heard of the "wheels" catching on fire before. it may look like a faulty part, but i wouldn't be surprised if tampering was invovled...

76 people taken to 9 different hospitals.

Originally posted by LooseLipsSinkShips
chicago's had this subway for decades upon decades. i've never heard of the "wheels" catching on fire before. it may look like a faulty part, but i wouldn't be surprised if tampering was invovled...

More than likely a wheel or wheels failed and caused sparks igniting any number of electical components in the rear of the train.

So far the CTA president and fire chief said that the wheels failed and that there is no evidence of foul play at this time. They also said wheel seperations/derailments can cause a car to hit the third (electrified) rail and that it can easily cause arcs.

Originally posted by LooseLipsSinkShips
76 people taken to 9 different hospitals.

They said that the vast majority were just due to smoke inhalation but there were a few that could have complications because of asthma or stress.

The news here is already turning to the angle of people being angry that they can't get home rather than the event itself.

I don't remember anything as big as this seems like happening in NYC, but I can imagine it. I see the sparks flying off the third rail all the time and with all the junk people throw onto the rails, it's not difficult to imagine a fire starting in the system. But this seems to be more serious with a derailment, so I'm not sure what really happened yet.

A little research ... the cars that run on the blue line are the oldest of all the lines in Chicago. Appartently there are 2 2200 Series Budd cars in the middle of all blue line trains with 2 2600 Series cars sandwiching them. The 2200s were originally ordered in the 60s and the 2600s were ordered in the 80s.

This info was all dated from 2003 however so I don't know if it's still current. In many pictures you can see that motors, gearing, and electrical components are under the cars so it's easy to see that something could catch.

www.orenstransitpage.com...

excellent work Fiverz

Our old red 2 (plus I think some other same model trains running on the East Side) looked a lot older than those trains. They have been replaced now but never really got to the point they were doing things like what happened in Chicage. Maybe it was just good luck...or maybe it was a maintance rather than age issue.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Our old red 2 (plus I think some other same model trains running on the East Side) looked a lot older than those trains. They have been replaced now but never really got to the point they were doing things like what happened in Chicage. Maybe it was just good luck...or maybe it was a maintance rather than age issue.

Yea I don't live in the city but I go up there and take our red and blue lines pretty much every weekend. The cars look old but nothing that would have given me the impression that they are untrustworthy.

I wouldn't doubt that it leads to a better maintainence plan for the CTA's trains ... I highly doubt foul play at this point. We'll see what the official investigation yields.