Train Derails, Climbs Escalator at Chicago Airport.

[elleng]

Source: nyt/ap

An eight-car Chicago commuter train plowed across a platform and scaled an escalator at the underground station of one of the nation's busiest airports early Monday, injuring 32 people on board, officials said.

No one suffered life-threatening injuries in the Blue Line derailment at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said during a morning briefing.

An enormous disaster was avoided thanks to the timing of the crash just before 3 a.m. The bustling station is usually packed with travelers using the major airport, but Chicago Transit Authority official said the crash happened at a traditionally quiet time.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/03/24/us/ap-us-travel-chicago-train-derailment.html?hp

---

[frazzled]

1. Yeah ... picture this

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-blue-line-train-crash-ohare-photos-20140324/#chi-blue-line-train-crash-ohare-photos-2014032-009

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-blue-line-train-crash-ohare-photos-20140324/#chi-blue-line-train-crash-ohare-photos-2014032-008

I've taken this train to O'Hare a million times. Then, a while back, we were returning from a trip and got on the blue line with our luggage. And this kind of really crazy guy--sweet, but obviously mentally challenged--glommed onto us and yakked to us about God and his mother the entire way back. We couldn't get rid of him, and didn't have the heart to say "please, leave us alone, we're beat." After that, we mostly drive and park in the econo-lot. For $8 a day, it seems worth it.

[elleng]

3. Holy crap!

Thanks for the pics, without which I would NEVER be able to picture this!

Surely worth parking, for $8 a day, but in many circumstances, taking Metro etc to/from airports is desirable. I'm glad to have the option in DC, tho haven't used it in years.

[mike_c]

16. talk about taking the EXPRESS escalator....

WOW!

[MicaelS]

2. Damn.

Looks like something from a movie.

[malthaussen]

11. It IS something from a movie:

Watch the finale of "Silver Streak" some time. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a YT video.

-- Mal

[KamaAina]

13. I was thinking a sequel to the Blues Brothers

remember the mall scene? But they'd have to get Jim Belushi to play Jake.

[Blue_Tires]

4. What causes a train to jump that high off the track to the platform??

[elleng]

5. I can't imagine it.

Maybe some DU engineers can help explain.
says: 'Derailed and overran the platform.'

[brooklynite]

6. I'm a transportation planner and I can't figure it out either...

Our best guess is that the train had to be going at 50 mph to have enough forward momentum to cover that distance.

[elleng]

10. and presumably 50 mph is not appropriate in that situation.

[brooklynite]

21. O'Hare Airport has bumper blocks, not over-run tracks...

...a standard policy would be reduce speed to 5-10 mph coming into the station so that impact would be minimized if the brakes failed.

[MicaelS]

15. Looks like very little distance between the end of track

And the escalator. Less than 1 car length. Maybe 1/2 car length. It had to be going very fast. I would bet at least 50mph.

[AngryAmish]

17. It is an electric train.

8 cars, each car is self propelled. So the other cars were pushing as the thing climbed the stairs. If it was going 50 wouldn't the front be a lot more smashed? I'm not an engineer so this is baseless speculation. Hey, can I go on CNN?

[Blue_Tires]

20. it it possible there was some foreign object on the track?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. Like a scene in a movie....

[Lars39]

8. One of the Die Hard movies.

Wow, those pics...

[Major Nikon]

19. A little paint and bondo. The rest will buff right out.

[cosmicone]

34. Or a reel of duct-tape n/t

[hootinholler]

23. At least the sign is accurate...

Do Not Board.

[Blue Owl]

9. It's just Mitt Romney's private train escalator

n/t

[truedelphi]

29. LOL.

Thanks for some Monday Am humor.

[MADem]

31. DUZY!!! Since no one died, we're allowed to laugh! nt

[canoeist52]

12. "Hello Chicago, hello!" Was it's name "The Silver Streak"?

[Spirochete]

14. That's something you don't see every day... n/t

[CanonRay]

18. Sure glad nobody was killed

but it sure is going to screw up the already screwed up commuting in Chi.

[liberal N proud]

22. Silver Steak

[Orrex]

24. Sure as you can't steer a train, you can't change your fate.

[Beacool]

25. Reminds me of this accident in Paris.

Train wreck at Montparnasse, 1895

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Yowza.

Thank goodness it happening in the middle of the night. I shudder to think of the potential carnage during a peak period.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. I take this all the time

I always take the Blue Line to OHare. been on that escalator many times. Crazy that this could happen. The run up to the end of the line is pretty long. The train usually stops a good 35-40 yards short of the escalators. Operator must have been asleep.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. And thus, the forthcoming DU Presidential Election 2016 forum had a new metaphor. nt

[Brigid]

30. train had to catch a plane.

[jayfish]

32. Surveillance Video Released...

Crash Surveillance Footage

[lunasun]

33. End of the line for that subway route - gonna guess a switch signal break or human fatigue

[npk]

35. How fortunate that nobody was killed

Had that area been filled with people, the situation could have been catastrophic.

[former9thward]

36. Union says operator may have gone to sleep ...

A Blue Line train operator may have fallen asleep shortly before her train jumped the platform at O’Hare International Airport Monday and climbed up an escalator at the end of the line, according to her union representative.

Reports from the scene indicate the driver, whose name has not been released, told people she nodded off moments before the crash, said Robert Kelly, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.

“I can confirm that she was extremely tired,” Kelly said. “Indications are she might have dozed off.”

More than 30 people were hurt in the crash, though none of the injuries was considered life-threatening.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ohare-train-crash-20140324,0,1750012.story

[elleng]

37. DAMN!

[alp227]

38. Full page link

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ohare-train-crash-20140324,0,4264603,full.story

[penultimate]

39. Go home, Train, you're drunk.