Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
I'm not sure if I've ever experienced the CTA slowzones. How bad were they?
The last time I rode the Blue line (OHare branch) was Fall 2005. The last time I rode the north side Red Line was Spring 2006.
Were there slow zones back then? I just don't recall the system being all that slow at that time.
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There were some slowzones at the time, but one of the problems uncovered as part of the federal investigation following the 2006 Blue Line subway derailment was that, for a number of different reasons, portions of rail that SHOULD have been declared slow zones and/or repaired were simply not being labeled slow in reporting. That was the proximate cause of that derailment, and after that there was a huge push to identify all the slow zones so that they could be fixed and be run safely and at full speed.
I suspect that some train operators knew this and intentionally slowed their trains in unlabeled, but obviously defective portions of track, which led to some areas being slower than expected. But when the full identification of slow zones was finally established, a huge portion of the routes became official slow zones. Coupled with the Red Line Dan Ryan rehab and the Brown Line station expansion work, the track rebilitation has created long portions of slower service. However, the Dan Ryan Red Line has completed, and the Brown Line is ever-closer to being completed. The majority of the non-Brown Line slow zones will be eliminated by the end of this year, so 2009 will be a lot faster for many trips, and when they go back to 4 tracks at Belmont and Fullerton, and all the slow-zone elimination work is completed, riding CTA rail in 2010 promises to be a miraculously faster experience compared to 2007. Then maybe they can return their focus on expansion plans, like the Clinton Street Subway or the Circle Line.