Chaos as speeding train derails at Chicago airport

Thirty-two people were injured — none seriously — when a speeding eight-car Chicago commuter train plowed across a platform and scaled an escalator at an underground station at O’Hare Airport early Monday, officials said.

“The train actually climbed over the last stop, jumped up on the sidewalk and then went up the stairs and escalator,” Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said during a morning briefing.

The derailed train is seen behind turnstiles and a security gate after the accident at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Monday.AP
NTSB accident investigator Tim DePaepe brief reporters after the crash.Reuters
A transit worker directs travelers to a shuttle bus after a train derailed while pulling into the O’Hare Airport station Monday.Reuters

Chicago Transit Authority investigators along with the city fire department and police were reviewing security footage and interviewing the driver and other workers to pin down the cause of the accident around 2:50 a.m.

“Apparently [the train] was traveling at a rate of speed that clearly was higher than a normal train would be,” CTA spokesman Brian Steele said.

“We will be looking at equipment. We will be looking at signals. We’ll be looking at the human factor and any extenuating circumstances. But really at this point, it’s far too soon to speculate,” he added

Investigators had not drawn any conclusions into the cause of the derailment at the end of the Blue Line at O’Hare International Airport, but were looking into whether faulty brakes, signals or human error were factors, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tim DePaepe said Monday.

The Chicago Transit Authority train operator, who was still hospitalized, will be interviewed, DePaepe said, and investigators would examine her routine over the last few days.

The timing of the crash — just before 3 a.m. Monday — helped avoid an enormous disaster, as the underground Blue Line station is usually packed with travelers coming to and from Chicago.

Steele said crews were working to remove the train and fix the escalator and were not sure when the station at one of the nation’s busiest airports will reopen.

The train appeared to be speeding as it approached the end-of-the-line station and did not stop at a “bumping post” — a metal shock absorber at the end of the tracks, witnesses said, describing a scene of chaos and panic.

“I thought it was just a hard stop as the train didn’t even slow down when it was coming in,” a Transportation Security Administration employee told Chicago’s NBC TV affiliate. “It was chaos. … People were freaking out. Trying to figure out what happened. Trying to make sure everyone was OK.”

It was not clear how many people were on board at the time of the crash, but Steele it took place during what is “typically among our lowest ridership time,” Steele said.

Officials said it was not immediately known if the motorman had some sort of medical problem prior to the crash but said that operator was walking, talking and answering questions afterward.

The injured were taken to four hospitals, and Santiago said most were able to walk away from the wreck unaided.