Friday, January 19, 2007

Chicago Transit Authority fires 5 after derailment

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) on Thursday fires 5 workers after an investigation into a derailment on the systems Blue Line last summer. The Chicago Tribune reports


The Chicago Transit Authority fired five employees, including two managers, on Thursday for neglecting long-standing track defects that caused the derailment of a Blue Line train near downtown last summer, officials said.

The July 11 accident in the subway tunnel west of the Clark/Lake station sparked a smoky fire and sent more than 150 passengers to hospitals. It was one of the most serious CTA derailments in recent years.

A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board has determined the rails were wider apart than they should have been, and the poorly aligned track likely caused the derailment of the last car on the eight-car train.


A separate CTA investigation has so far failed to pinpoint responsibility among the individuals who were fired. Officials are unsure how to apportion blame among the two track inspectors, their foreman, the engineer responsible for supervising the foreman and the manager of track maintenance.

CTA President Frank Kruesi fired all of them.

More coverage from


A Chicago riders blog similar to Charlie CTA Tattler comments


Chicago BTW has something I wish the MBTA would consider. The head of the Chicago Transit Authority, Carole Brown writes her own blog and talks to riders about current issues

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