Fifty-nine minutes ticked by while more than 1,000 passengers were trapped last week in the Blue Line subway before CTA officials called emergency rescue personnel for help, Mayor Richard Daley said Monday.
Many anxious passengers evacuated from the tunnel long before firefighters were finally summoned, Daley said. Most had remained onboard the four stalled trains until they saw or smelled smoke.
Daley’s criticism represented a stark about-face from last week when he praised the response of the CTA and the Fire and Police Departments.
“Thank God no one was injured. Thank God no one was killed,” the mayor said. “We had an emergency on our hands,” he proclaimed for the first time.
The handling of last Tuesday’s incident bore troubling similarities to the CTA’s botched response to a Blue Line subway train derailment and fire two years ago in which more than 150 people were hurt.
At Monday’s news conference, CTA President Ron Huberman promised myriad changes, including retraining rail employees in emergency communications and equipping train operators with cell phones that work in subways.
Perhaps most important to riders, service stoppages will be dealt with as possible life-threatening emergencies instead of strictly as mechanical problems, he said.
From now on, the Chicago Fire Department will be alerted to every service delay if mechanical problems occur on trains in the Blue and Red Line subway tunnels, Huberman said.
This spring, the CTA began making $14 million in improvements to emergency exits in subway tunnels. Workers will install escape-path lighting, new emergency phones and stairwells as well as reflective paint on handrails.
After defending his hand-picked CTA president last week, Daley indicated Monday that he thought transit officials were once again asleep at the switch.
Regarding the CTA’s failure to notify emergency personnel for almost an hour, Daley said emphatically: “That’s the problem and that will change … immediately.”
Last Tuesday, Huberman at first chastised CTA passengers for bolting from the trains. Within hours of the incident, though, he said the CTA failed to communicate properly with timely updates about when service might resume and reassurances that riders on the four trains were safe.
Some stranded passengers reported being stuck on trains or in the tunnel for as long as 21/2 hours. A number of passengers complained of oppressive heat and endangered themselves and others by opening train doors in an attempt to let in fresh air.
Details of the investigation released Monday make it clear that CTA officials thought the mechanical problems could be resolved reasonably quickly.
The chain of events started when an electrical circuit-breaker blew on the propulsion system powering the first southbound train, disabling the eight-car train as it approached the Clark/Lake station at 8:10 a.m.
A CTA supervisor arrived at the scene seven minutes later, officials said. But the train operator and supervisor were unable to reset the circuit-breaker. Investigators subsequently determined that a wire shorted out the propulsion system, Huberman said.
“Much like older-style Christmas lights … if just one bulb burns out, the entire strand goes dark,” Huberman, standing beside Daley, told reporters at CTA headquarters downtown.
Another mechanical problem further complicated matters.
At 8:21 a.m., the decision was made to use the train directly behind the disabled train to push it into the Clark/Lake station. The two trains were coupled together at 8:44 a.m., but the trains advanced only about 50 feet before the metal condenser cover from an air-conditioning unit fell off the first train.
The cover landed on the electrified third rail, the train was jolted and there was a loud bang, a flash of light and smoke that came from the spark, Huberman said.
Frightened passengers began to flee from at least the first train, requiring CTA officials to cut all power in the tunnel at 8:47 a.m. CTA personnel ordered the riders to return to the train, and power was restored at 8:51 a.m., Huberman said.
But at some point, passengers on the other three trains had already begun to evacuate on their own and walk toward emergency exits, officials said.
Even from the point that the 600 volts of power was first turned off, 22 minutes elapsed before the CTA notified the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, according to the investigation. That was 59 minutes after the emergency began. The Chicago Fire Department’s rapid-response team arrived several minutes later to assist passengers out of the tunnel, officials said.
The electricity was turned off again at 9:10 a.m. to facilitate the evacuation, officials said.
“It was a very stressful situation,” Daley said. “To those CTA riders who were on the affected trains, I want to say thank you for your patience, cooperation and understanding.”
The mayor said he hoped fear would not keep people off CTA trains.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation attributed the July 2006 Blue Line derailment to deferred rail maintenance and poor safety oversight. When it issued its findings last September, the safety board recommended that the CTA improve its communications with passengers during emergencies.
While it isn’t investigating last week’s CTA incident, the NTSB did gather information on the evacuation, said its spokesman, Terry Williams.
At another news conference at CTA headquarters two months ago, Daley challenged Huberman’s team to better inform riders about the cause and duration of delays. The mayor also said people “want a system where they are respected by CTA employees at every level.”
He reiterated that point Monday in response to reports that one CTA train operator called riders in last week’s incident “stupid” for fleeing the trains.
Possible disciplinary action against workers for rude behavior or violating rules awaits the outcome of the investigation, Huberman said.
Some transportation experts recommended that the CTA invest in communications and video systems that would allow supervisors in its control center to speak to passengers in every rail car.
“Toronto’s system enables the control center to give instructions to passengers,” said Joseph DiJohn, a researcher at the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “To keep people on the train during a delay, the announcement could be that there is a danger of electrocution and it’s not safe to be in the tunnels without guidance.”
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jhilkevitch@tribune.com
