On March 24, 2014, a

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated railway, elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the four ...

train crashed at

O'Hare station O'Hare is a Chicago "L" station located at O'Hare International Airport, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of The Loop. The northwestern terminus of the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line, it is a subway station with two island platforms se ...

, injuring 34 people. A Blue Line train entering the station, the line's terminus, crashed into a

bumper block A buffer stop, bumper, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock (US), is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of track. The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings ...

and ran up an

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...

after the operator fell asleep at the controls. The crash caused over $11 million in damage and halted service to O'Hare station for 6 days. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

's investigation of the crash found that the train operator was affected by

sleep debt Sleep debt or sleep deficit is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. A large sleep debt may lead to mental or physical fatigue, and can adversely affect one's mood, energy, and ability to think clearly. There are two kinds of slee ...

from insufficient sleep over the course of multiple days. In its final report on the crash, the NTSB criticized the Chicago Transit Authority's scheduling policies, which it found contributed to train operators becoming fatigued. Additionally, the NTSB found that the

train stop Part of a railway signalling system, a train stop, trip stop or tripcock (sometimes called a tripper) is a train protection device that automatically stops a train if it attempts to pass a signal when the signal aspect and operating rules proh ...

system at O'Hare station was incorrectly configured. The CTA responded by revising its scheduling policies and reconfiguring train stops at terminal stations throughout the "L" system.

Background

The crash occurred at

, the northwestern terminus of the Blue Line of the

. The underground station has three tracks with two

island platforms An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single railway platform, platform is positioned between two railway track, tracks within a railway station, ...

. Passengers enter the station at the end of the platforms via a set of escalators and elevators, located in line with the center track. The train involved in the crash was Blue Line train number 141, which was operated by an eight-car train of 2600-series cars. Blue Line service normally operates

24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty- ...

between O'Hare and

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fore ...

, but scheduled maintenance on the night of March 23-24 resulted in trains operating a shorter route from O'Hare to Logan Square.

Crash

Train 141 departed Logan Square at 2:23 a.m, and the operator reported that she began to feel drowsy near Harlem station. The operator continued along the route towards O'Hare after adjusting a heater in the train cab in an attempt to stay awake. 50 people were onboard the train, which was scheduled to terminate at O'Hare on the center track. As Train 141 was entering O'Hare station, the operator fell asleep. The train entered O'Hare station at a normal speed of approximately , and was routed onto the center track. The train operator woke up when the train hit a

approximately from the end of the track, and immediately applied the brakes. At 2:49 a.m.

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

(07:50

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

), the train crashed into the

at the end of the center track. The train slowed slightly to approximately by the time it hit the bumper block, which failed to stop the train as designed. The train then overran the bumper block and rode up onto an escalator in front of the center track, coming to rest with the front car partially up the escalator. The force of the collision separated the body of the leading car from its front

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

, which remained on the track. While a spokesman initially stated that it was likely that the train entered the station at too high a speed, later estimates indicated that the train entered the station at , which was not an excessive speed.

Response

At least 50

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s and

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

s responded to the accident. Thirty-four people were injured, including the train operator. They were taken to the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, the Resurrection Hospital and the Swedish Covenant Hospital. Following the accident, the line between O'Hare and was closed, with a replacement bus service in place. The CTA initially estimated that the station would be closed for 48 hours, and later revised its estimate to one week. The front two cars of the train were damaged in the accident, with the cost of the damage initially estimated at $6 million. On March 26, work began to scrap the lead car on site. The derailed train was removed from the station on March 27, and the station reopened on March 30, 6 days after the crash. The escalator damaged in the crash was replaced by stairs. The final estimate of the cost of the damage was $11.2 million, equivalent to $ million in .

Investigation

The

(NTSB) opened an investigation into the accident. Investigators focused on the theory that the operator, 25-year-old Brittney Tysheka Haywood, fell asleep at the controls. She stated that she had recently performed "a lot of overtime". When interviewed by the NTSB, Haywood admitted falling asleep at the controls and disclosed that she had done a similar thing the previous month, which resulted in an overshoot at (

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

) on February 1. Haywood did not reveal to CTA that she had fallen asleep when questioned about the overshoot. The investigation was hampered by the train's lack of a

train event recorder A train event recorder – also called On-Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR), On-Train Data Recorder (OTDR), Event Recorder System (ERS), Event Recorder Unit (ERU), or Juridical Recording Unit (JRU) – is a device that records data about the ope ...

, although it was fitted with a video camera. The recording from the camera was examined. Images from 41 cameras within the station were also studied. The NTSB's report ultimately confirmed the original findings. In its final report, the NTSB concluded:

Aftermath

As a direct consequence of the accident, the CTA reduced the speed limit into the O'Hare station from to . The area of the speed limit was extended away from the station. Similar modifications were made at other "L" terminal stations, including Midway, Linden, and Cottage Grove. The CTA fired the train operator in April 2014.

References

External links

* {{O'Hare International Airport, state=expanded 2014 disasters in the United States Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois Railway accidents in 2014 O'Hare International Airport 2014 in Illinois Accidents and incidents involving Chicago Transit Authority March 2014 in the United States