"Doors Closing On Your Left..."

Dear Lowdown:

As a paranoid CTA rider, I sometimes imagine when I’m half-leaning against the train doors that they will suddenly fly open, so I always try to balance myself against the glass panel instead. Has the conductor actually ever opened the doors at the wrong side though, leading to the tumbling death of twenty passengers at Cermak Chinatown (or any elevated train station where the doors opposite to the side of the platform lead to a sixty-foot fall) because they didn’t listen to the warning of, “Please do not lean against the doors”? And what is the purpose of that warning, if not to prevent demonstrations of physics and gravity? While we’re on the topic of CTA freak accidents, let’s say someone has snuck into the conductor’s cart on the CTA train, wrestled the conductor to prevent them from stopping the train in this emergency situation, and switched the doors open. Would the doors actually open, or does the train have some sort of mechanism to only open the doors when the train has stopped? I’ve never heard about passengers falling off CTA trains, but I don’t think these accidents are too unlikely…

- Daisy Fong (Chicago)




Dear Daisy,

While passengers at the Cermak Chinatown Red Line “L” stop have never been the victims of a door malfunction at that particular stop, there have been a few accidents leading to some skepticism about the safety of the trains we ride. The poor trains seem sketchy enough already, and then a something happens to make them seem even less reliable. You may recall an incident that happened almost a year ago involving the Red Line, a stroller, and a door. A woman at the Morse Red Line stop was pushing her 22-month old baby in a stroller, when the doors of the train supposedly closed on the stroller, dragging the baby and buggy, eventually leading to the baby’s fall about ten feet past the platform.

Thankfully, the baby was safe. The CTA still does not know the exact reasons for the occurrence, and uncertainty still remains after extensive tests done on the car. The tests did not reveal anything evidently wrong with the car, meaning that either the stroller did not really get stuck or the incident was a one-time catastrophe.

To put it bluntly, the doors of the train should not open while in motion. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the conductor or driver of the train can override the sensor system with a special key. However, there have been several instances where the doors have not responded the way they should, without the conductor’s knowledge. Much like an elevator door, the doors on the train have sensors, and the train operator has a control panel that can indicate any problems. In the situation with the stroller, the control panel did not indicate any problems, and it is possible that the part of the stroller that got stuck was small enough that the sensors didn’t activate.

There were a few other door complications, though none as drastic as the stroller story, and nothing resulting in injuries: One woman, Tonya Tibbs, had a similar experience where her suitcase handle got caught between the doors, leaving her mid-sized luggage hanging out of the train until her fiancé managed to pry it free (Swartz, “CTA Rider: Door Closed on my Bag”). Perhaps the handle was a similar size to the segment of the stuck stroller. However, it seems that a human being will activate the sensors to open the door without a problem. Nevertheless, keep an eye on your bag, and seriously, stand clear of the doors if they are closing.

Just because the doors cannot open while in motion does not mean that it is impossible for them to open at a stop, and remain open in transit. Passengers at Cermak Chinatown may have been safe, but riders of the Red Line in between Addison and Sheridan had a scary experience: as a train pulled away from the Addison stop, the doors, in one of the cars, failed to close. The passengers were sent on a wild ride in the early hours of the morning, leaving many with wind-swept hair. The emergency button was pushed several times, but no response was received. At the early hour in the morning that these passengers were riding, it is lucky they had any mode of transportation at all. It became apparent that the CTA operator had no idea what was going on (Lutz), however at that time in the morning, who really does? We live in world full of mechanized things that are bound to malfunction at some time. I would call it a miracle that the trains can carry carload after carload of crowded, grumpy people headed to work every day and not spontaneously combust.

As a funny coincidence, the luggage incident and the open-door incident both happened within a few weeks of the stroller story. The woman with the luggage reported her mishap had occurred on the Blue Line, but the other two stories took place on the Red Line. The CTA revealed that doors tend to malfunction under severe, cold weather. After further investigation of the National Weather Archives, November of 2009 seemed to be beautifully mild: mid-fifties with little rain. So weather wasn’t a factor in the train doors malfunctioning. According to the CTA, in 2008 the “CTA replaced the sensitive edges on all rail cars in its fleet and have reduced the number of instances of door problems to three percent of all mechanical problems affecting rail cars” (Swartz). Maybe it’s coincidence that these accidents all happened at the same times, despite apparently wonderful weather. Considering that on a given weekday, an average of 1.7 million people ride the CTA, and that the trains make 2,157 trips daily to 144 stations, and we receive word of only a few minor door incidents per year, you are pretty safe riding the train. Compared to the 300,000 traffic accidents per year in Chicago, with around 141 fatal crashes (in 2009), riding a train seems much safer than traveling in a car (Hilkevitch). Despite the large number of car accidents, people still drive, so despite the very few door incidents, there is no reason to refrain from riding the train.

And do keep in mind that our trains are constantly being improved upon. Keep your eyes open for the new 5000-series of the ‘L’ cars. They are being seriously tested for any fault, and there are several new safety designs to keep passengers secure; doors especially have more advanced sensors that ensure the train cannot leave unless the doors are fully shut (and locked). Flashing lights above the doors notify passengers when the doors are in use, and the door chimes will play during closing (CTA: 5000-Series Rail Cars). Hopefully, this will mean that the conductor won’t have to say “please stand clear of the doors, doors are closing” every single time the train is about to leave a station, as has been occurring recently. Other safety features will amp up security, leaving you to ride to your destination protected and happy. Clearly, the CTA is taking its mistakes and working to fix them to improve customer satisfaction and decrease mortality, so there won’t be anyone falling off the train anytime soon, and you are free to enjoy the lovely, crowded rush-hour train ride fear-free.


Sincerely,


Hannah Francis












Works Cited
Chicago Tribune. "'The Train Took My Baby' - Chicago Tribune." The Chicago Tribune. 04 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
CTA. "The 5000-Series 'L' Cars - CTA's New Train Cars." Chicago Transit Authority | Cta | 1-888-YOUR-CTA. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
Doyle, Mike. "Are CTA Employees to Blame for Annoying New Warning Announcements on the ‘L’? | CHICAGO CARLESS." Chicago Careless. 2 July 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
Hilkevitch, Jon. "CTA Union Leader Urges Action on Train 'door Problem'" Chicago Breaking News. 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
Hilkevitch, Jon. "Traffic Deaths." Chicago Breaking News. 19 July 2010. Web. 02 Jan. 2011. .
Lutz, BJ. "Doors Closing? Passengers Say One Didn't." NBC Chicago. 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
"National Weather Service Climate." NOAA's National Weather Service. Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
Swartz, Tracy. "CTA Rider: Door Closed on My Bag - RedEye." ChicagoNow. 4 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. .
Swartz, Tracy. "CTA Rider: Red Line Doors Didn't Close - RedEye." ChicagoNow. 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.