Slog - Comments on Chicago Subway Revolt

Comment by Greg

Greg — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:10:52 -0800

That's a pretty colossal fuck-up.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:18:15 -0800

If only Chicago had a monorail, they wouldn't be able to escape!

Comment by Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:19:19 -0800

I want a subway in Seattle right now!! That sounds AWESOME!!!!!

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:21:59 -0800

I've been underground on stalled BART trains - which is about 200% nicer than the CTA (no offense, BART's just newer), and it suuuuuuuucks. Bad. I'd probably rip the doors off after 30 minutes. Exactly that just happened here a few months ago when a small track fire backed cars up in a tunnel - smoke coming into the car but the driver had either no idea or no plan to pull the train out.

I'd like to finish by saying that nothing terrible happens 99.98% of the time, so underground trains still rule.

Comment by Cale

Cale — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:22:15 -0800

thankfully, seattle's system is going to be powered from overhead wires. that third rail thing has always scared me.

and of course we all know that disasters never occur when cars have problems.

Comment by yerbamatty

yerbamatty — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:30:38 -0800

At least it's not the #36 downtown bus that had to endure a vomit-pile for 5 miles until a poor Metro-employee had to board and clean it between stops. Not quite glamrous enough for "Last Days" column or else I'd comment, but this has forced me to get my bike out of storage and start riding. Stinking #36!!!

Comment by Hyde Park

Hyde Park — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:40:57 -0800

The CTA is absolute shit. Those trains will soon be far beyond repair.

Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:12:53 -0800

@6,

That's totally appropriate for Last Days.

Any Metro system should, but won't and never will, have a time limit for how long they keep people stranded before they evacuate passengers. Two hours is unforgivable.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:28:15 -0800

Subways are great! Let's listen to Red Rossi and bankrupt the state to build them! And, heck, let's do it in earthquake prone areas!

Comment by Michigan Matt (soon to be Balt-o-matt)

Michigan Matt (soon to be Balt-o-matt) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:36:58 -0800

Sounds like Hillary Clinton's campaign!

Comment by max solomon

max solomon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:49:22 -0800

i still feel no existential rivalry with Chicago. none.

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:57:20 -0800

#9 - there are subways in Americas two most earthquake prone areas. In fact, engineers believe them to be one of the safest places to be should an earthquake occur.

Comment by joykiller

joykiller — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:00:13 -0800

@12, there are no subways in Alaska.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:04:45 -0800

@12: He's kidding. Will knows nothing about geology or engineering.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:11:13 -0800

I want teh subways to take me between my 40 to 100 story moderate income apartment buildings.

Comment by John Pontoon

John Pontoon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:17:16 -0800

I was in one of those trains; I ride the blue line to work every morning. The delay was 45 minutes. Beats me how a train making me 45 minutes late would delay someone else for "two hours."

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:25:18 -0800

Missed headline: "CHICAGO SUBWAY RIDERS ARE REVOLTING!"

Comment by Prodtrund

Prodtrund — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:26:03 -0800

Hey Will, those subway tunnels will be safer if we use them to link 100-story residential towers together right? 'Cause 100-story residential towers are earthquake-safe, right?

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:27:05 -0800

#17 - probably in the same way that my "going to the drugstore across the street" just kept me away from my desk for a half hour (i.e. browsing magazines at the bookstore).

Comment by Jay

Jay — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:36:45 -0800

11: Well I wouldn't worry about that. I doubt most Chicagoans give a shit about Seattle.

Comment by scott in Chi-Town

scott in Chi-Town — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:37:20 -0800

I was trapped in a CTA subway once, last summer on a hot, horrible train. NOT FUN!!

Comment by Dawgson

Dawgson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:44:11 -0800

I fear for our crumbling infrastructure.

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:03:17 -0800

I like to think of life itself, the trip from birth to death, as being a kind of subway ride that you're hopelessly trapped on. There is no side exit from the narrow tunnel that is the river of time. There is no train conductor to lead you out the emergency exit. You stay there, within the confines of the subway car that is the bounds of your lived experience, whose windows are the event horizon of your daily joys and sorrows, and it only ends one way, in one place. Two stations. No stops.

Thank you. I've got chap books you can buy on the table by the door. Thank you.

Comment by drewl

drewl — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:43:00 -0800

@23 Well, for other options you can step on the 3rd rail, jump in front, bust a window and stick yer head out, or look cross-eyed at the huge black dude holding up a blonde ready to spew chunks all over a packed (think sausage) Red Line from the Aragon 2:30 am New Year's Day.

I'd hate to think what would've happened had that one died. Revolting, indeed... a lot of fucked up people on that train.

Comment by Bud Dickman

Bud Dickman — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:27:36 -0800

Sounds almost as plesent as my ride home on the 49 tonight.I don't know what's dumber, allowing dogs on the bus or being a street kid that has a dog that could eat a small house. And I used to ride the Traveling Homeless shelter...er...I mean the Red Line at 4 A.M five days a week and on more then one occasion had a person throw a bottle of piss at me.

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:37:11 -0800

elenchos, you are very... deep... today.

Comment by tim

tim — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:48:41 -0800

my sister was on that train. there were a couple of small fires on the train, and they tried to push the stalled train with the one behind it. which didn't work.

Comment by Jennifer in Chicago

Jennifer in Chicago — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:22:14 -0800

I have a love/hate relationship with the CTA. Having never lived in a large city, it's great to be able to come home at four in the morning, piss drunk, and not have to worry about driving or having someone else drive. On the other hand, sometimes its better to shell out the thirty bucks for a cab when the alternative is standing waiting for a bus for an hour and a half, in the dead of winter, piss drunk AND freezing to death.