Rush-hour service on the Brown Line will return to normal Monday, a week after it was cut in half because of a fire at an electrical substation, Chicago Transit Authority President Frank Kruesi said Sunday.
Authorities predicted it would take two weeks for service to return to normal, but CTA employees worked non-stop on the substation after the Feb. 21 fire, resulting in quicker repairs, Kruesi said.
Workers replaced more than 1,200 feet of damaged power cable, 2,400 square feet of roofing and cleaned more than a dozen breakers, transformers and communication lines, authorities said.
The fire was sparked after several cables shorted out at the substation at 4650 N. Lincoln Ave., one of three substations that power the Brown Line. Because there was not enough power to run trains every three minutes from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m., service north of Belmont Avenue was cut in half and trains ran every six minutes.
About 66,000 riders use the line every weekday, spokeswoman Sheila Gregory said.
