There's been plenty of news this week that I haven't had a chance to report. Here's my attempt to catch up:
Train door problems persist. The Sun-Times and Trib reported that a Red Line train door stayed open between Addison and Sheridan. This comes on top of the Morse stroller incident. Now the union is calling for the return of conductors on the rails. Except, that would cost $19 million per year. I don't think so.
RTA OKs CTA service cuts. The RTA board Thursday formally approved Gov. Quinn's plan to borrow $166 million to stave off fare hikes. But service hours cuts will go into effect, unless the CTA can convince the union to take furlough days or wage cuts.
Red Line weekend changes. Southbound Red Line trains will skip Granville, Thorndale and Bryn Mawr from 10 pm Friday till 6 pm Saturday for track work. Meanwhile, more frequent service will run on the Red Line for the Magnificent Mile Parade late Saturday. Also, many bus routes will be affected, so check out the CTA site.
Holiday Train debuts. And of course, don't forget that Santa starts riding the rails this weekend. Ho ho ho!
10 Comments
Ed said:
Hey, anyone else notice that it seems in the PM rush, especially if you board in the Loop around 5 to 5:15pm, that the Northbound Red line lately has had severe train bunching or some sort of major signal issues? The last couple months its been getting worse. Twice this week I boarded a train that had to creep along and come to complete stops EIGHT TIMES between stations between downtown and Bryn Mawr. It lengthened the ride almost 10 minutes. I don't understand what is going on. Trains leaving at incorrect intervals at 95th? Signal issues on the North mainline? This is highly inefficient operation. It means that probably some trains ahead of mine were jammed, while mine had plenty of room. Anytime I've tried to email the CTA of this worsening issue lately, they do not respond. Its not once in a while, its been about 3/4 of the time lately.
chris said:
They have been switching over to the new tower in the loop... Not sure if it's related to your issue Ed.
jack said:
Probably not, since he said Red Line, which is in the subway.
jack said:
Someone in chicagobus.org noted that one of the articles on this subject also indicated that Kelly wanted the trains taken out of service until they were fixed. If this is the proper interpretation of his remarks, it seems like not only is he angling for conductor jobs, but also a service disruption without calling a strike. Admittedly, the NABIs were pulled from the street, but that involved a serious structural failure, and there were other buses in the system to fill the gap. Pulling all the rail cars (or even the 2600s) would probably shut down the L system.
MK said:
"Someone in chicagobus.org noted that one of the articles on this subject also indicated that Kelly wanted the trains taken out of service until they were fixed."
Yep. That is exactly what he said. And I believe he was referring to each and every train car on the CTA system! When someone makes a comment like that it just completely destroys the credibility of anything he has to say. So I would assume that his stance against the union agreeing to forego 6% cost-of-living increases (during this time of no inflation) will be met with even less credibility now.
And, by the way, perhaps someone at some point will notice that bringing back conductors wouldn't even come close to solving the issue. If the doors open while the train is moving, it is unlikely the conductor would even see it. And even if he does, I don't even think the system allows him to quickly close those doors (which might even sometimes make it more unsafe, for example if the doors hit someone and push him/her out of the train). All he can really do is stop the train, which a passenger also can do rather easilly by pulling the emergency brake. So the idea that conductors would make the trains significantelly safer just doesn't wash. You need to win that argument before you even start to make the case that it is worth the cost. It really is about as absurd as the unions that said that having two employees in a locomotive engine would make a commuter train safer (in reality, of course it would do the opposite since these people would likely be chatting with each other and might not be inclined to pay close enough attention to their job).
glg said:
I'm confused on something. How would union furlough days help this? If a bus driver or L operators gets an unpaid day off, who is doing their run?
jack said:
Since I mentioned that they haven't figured out a way to run a bus with less than one operator, you are right. I think that in that context, it was more an idea to avoid layoffs. However, if what certain hardhead drivers who post on other internet forums mean what they say, they have no regard for the about 1000 of them that would get laid off. They think Blago has more money to give them, and this is only a way to bust the union (I'm just reporting what they say, and don't put any personal credence in it). If that's what the union rank and file believe, Jefferson and Kelly have their support, and damn the consequences.
JMan said:
glg, you are not confused, local media and bloggers are the ones who are repeatedly confused. CTA probably still has some union employees who do either clerical or non-critical operating functions that could take a furlough, but it is probably a small fraction. To get any significant dollars in concessions will require talking about what MK referred to: this year's 3% raise and next year's 3.5% raise. Maybe some work rules are on the table (I've heard rail operators get a healthy amount of break time and other kinds of inflexibilities in their contract--if anyone knows any of those details, please post them, because none of the local media cares to dig into these things).
I'd be surprised if more complicated things like pension or health care are on the table, or even more exotic things like two-tier pay systems or even service contracting. Those things would probably require re-visting various State laws, and the Dems probably want to avoid that. And Quinn thinks he's already done his part with that silly $15 million a year for the next two years he's giving CTA (with 2012 and later having to divert sales tax to pay off the interest on the remaining loans---did our local media explain it that way? That's what Quinn's plan did.)
Mr. Kelly thinks he can bring back conductors is ridiculous, too. He should be focusing on saving the current jobs his members have, and not adding new ones. He already has a PR problem with those Customer Agents he has in rail stations, whose credibility with the public is already low, since they seem to do nothing but sit around.
jack said:
"and later having to divert sales tax to pay off the interest on the remaining loans---did our local media explain it that way?"
No. Also, no indication how the $166 million principal on the bonds would be paid.
Assuming, for the sake of argument that the bonds are secured by future sales tax revenue, that sure puts a crimp in the moderator's theory that all will be well once we get out of the recession. The RTA would have to pay the bond amortization, paratransit, and the other "off the tops" before one cent goes to the service boards, let alone hoping for restoring service.
stephen said:
Maybe if the CTA could bust the union they could use the cost-savings to fix the doors and automate (no operator) the red line or blue lines (since they share track with no other lines this could be done easily and safely)? Just saying... the argument goes both ways.
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