September 14, 2006

BY MONIFA THOMAS Transportation Reporter

Rapid transit, it ain't. That's what many CTA riders are saying about the L, which has seen significant increases in the number of slow zones on almost every line in recent months.

Only the Orange Line lacked slow zones, according to CTA figures.

The reasons are different in each case, but the result is pretty much the same: more delays and increasingly frustrated riders.

"The Red Line totally sucks," Miguel Brown, 32, said while waiting at the Merchandise Mart station. "I feel like it's a waste of money, but it's a necessity."

Brown said it took him two hours on the Red Line from his downtown office to his South Side home Tuesday evening. CTA officials kept riders in the dark about the reason for the delays, he said.

CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown said she has been getting a flood of complaints like this lately, prompting her to raise the issue at Wednesday's CTA board meeting.

She cited one rider who compared the Red and Brown lines to the Pace suburban bus system, which runs some of its routes an hour apart.

"With all due respect to Pace, I don't appreciate that comparison," said Brown, who was chosen Wednesday to head the CTA board for another three-year term.

They'll 'never go away'

CTA officials said they plan to have some of the slow zones on the Red Line near Clark Junction under control by the end of the year. By then, however, L riders will be faced with even bigger headaches because of work at the Belmont and Fullerton stations that will require three-track operations instead of four.

Other sections of track will probably still be running slower next year, the CTA said.

Of course slow zones "will never go away," CTA President Frank Kruesi said, because different segments of track will need work at different times.

That notion doesn't sit well with rider Christine Miller, who has noticed more delays for her commute to work. The associate manager at the admissions department at the Illinois Institute of Art was late for work last week when her train was delayed for a half hour.

Crew safety a factor

As frustrating as the delays may be for riders, Kruesi said, "If we don't do the construction, eventually we have a situation that's not acceptable."

The biggest increase in slow zones has been on the Blue Line. In late June, trains were moving below the speed limit on roughly 2 percent of the line. That figure jumped to nearly 26 percent by Aug. 31.

The CTA has blamed those increases on extra track maintenance done since July's subway derailment, along with signal upgrades, security camera installment and repairs to track damaged by this summer's heat wave.

Likewise, rehab projects on the Brown and Red lines have resulted in more reduced-speed areas for the safety of crews working on the tracks.

Chief among them is the track and signal work going on at Clark Junction, the section of track just north of Belmont where the Red, Brown and Purple lines meet.

Crowding on trains also contributes to the delays, Kruesi said, citing the CTA's growing ridership.

Contributing: Rummana Hussain

mjthomas@suntimes.com