L train derailment makes Loyola students late for classes
Posted by kbaugh on April 19, 2011
Scene inside one of the shuttles buses for commuters stranded by Tuesdays L train derailment. Photo by Megan Millard.
Hundreds of Loyola University Chicago students were late to morning classes Tuesday after an apparent switching problem on the Brown and Red lines stopped all trains near the Belmont station.
The shutdown forced hundreds of morning commuters to take shuttle buses, including Loyola students making their way between the Lake Shore and Water Tower campuses.
Service was restored around 11:15 a.m., though shuttle buses continued to run until stations were cleared out, according to Chicago Breaking News.
Here are details from Chicago Breaking News:
A Brown Line train became stuck at about 8:45 a.m. while switching tracks just north of the Belmont station, holding up other trains on the Brown, Red and Purple lines, according to CTA and police officials. No injuries were reported.
Nine people were on board the train and were safely evacuated, officials said. CTA officials were investigating how the incident occurred, but a fire official at the scene said at least one car was involved.
CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney stopped short of calling the incident a derailment, saying “all of the wheels stayed on the track.”
Gaffney said the eight-car train had just left the Belmont station and was headed to the Southport station when the front part of the train switched onto the westbound tracks on the Brown line while the rest of the train’s wheels remained on the northbound tracks.
“The first part of the train went on the correct track, but the middle part stayed on the northbound track,” Gaffney said.
Shuttle buses for Brown line riders were running between Southport and Fullerton. Red Line shuttles were running between Addison and Fullerton. Purple line riders were being asked to take shuttle buses from the Howard stop.
During the incident, Belmont was closed between Sheffield and Clark.
- Kimberly Baugh
