by octr202
Hello all,
I just recently got back from my first extended (5 days) visit to Chicago, and have to admit, was pretty impressed with the CTA's operations. Having heard about the budget woes, perhaps my expectations where lowered, or maybe that just comes from years of riding Boston's MBTA (I find that can leave me impressed with a lot of other systems).
Over the course of the time there, I rode the Blue Line to and from O'Hare, the entire Orange and Brown Lines (solely for railfanning purposes), the Red between downtown and Howard, and the Skokie Swift. (Sorry for using the colors -- its second nature to me here). First of all, I was very impressed with the general condition of the cars -- both cleanliness and maintenance wise. Considerably better than the MBTA fields here. Also, it was so nice to ride a system where there is space -- the T seems to always shrink consists to keep them packed to sardine levels, even on weekends. Aside from rush hour trips, I almost always found a seat on the El. Finally, I wish the T had used the automated stop announcement system that the CTA has -- I don't recall it ever missing a station, or getting mixed up. Perhaps I just got lucky, but I think in the five days there, I only heard an operator have to make announcements once or twice, and that was for additional information, not correcting the computer.
The most surprising trip had to be the Skokie Swift -- although perhaps just because I am not familiar with the area. I was expecting the mid-day train I was on to be nearly empty, thinking there was really just a park & ride at the end. The train was almost 3/4 full both ways, and there was a lot of development along the way. Any plans to add more stops to this line, and perhaps through route it to downtown? Seems like it would be a good time, with the third rail in.
I was surprised by the number of wooden El platforms that are left. Is the CTA still putting in new wood platforms, or are these just holdovers from the past that haven't been replaced yet?
The airport connections were a nice change too. The day I flew back to Boston, I have to admit I was quite disappointed in the process one goes through to get to our Blue Line at Logan Airport. While there may be a long walk at O'Hare or Midway, it sure beats going outside for a bus ride to the subway. And both airports seemed to be well signed for the route to the El station -- even with the construction in the American terminal at O'Hare.
Finally, and I know that this is a rail forum, but we also made extensive use of the Michigan Ave. buses -- all of which appeared to be much cleaner and better maintained than our buses. This was the first city where I've ever used the buses as a visitor, and found them to be quite easy to use.
I'm sure that regular riders could argue with my perceptions of the system, but my feeling after five days was that the MBTA could learn a few things from the CTA, especially in vehicle cleaning and maintenance, and operational discipline. I sure hope that the political and financial problems don't start damaging the system.
I just recently got back from my first extended (5 days) visit to Chicago, and have to admit, was pretty impressed with the CTA's operations. Having heard about the budget woes, perhaps my expectations where lowered, or maybe that just comes from years of riding Boston's MBTA (I find that can leave me impressed with a lot of other systems).
Over the course of the time there, I rode the Blue Line to and from O'Hare, the entire Orange and Brown Lines (solely for railfanning purposes), the Red between downtown and Howard, and the Skokie Swift. (Sorry for using the colors -- its second nature to me here). First of all, I was very impressed with the general condition of the cars -- both cleanliness and maintenance wise. Considerably better than the MBTA fields here. Also, it was so nice to ride a system where there is space -- the T seems to always shrink consists to keep them packed to sardine levels, even on weekends. Aside from rush hour trips, I almost always found a seat on the El. Finally, I wish the T had used the automated stop announcement system that the CTA has -- I don't recall it ever missing a station, or getting mixed up. Perhaps I just got lucky, but I think in the five days there, I only heard an operator have to make announcements once or twice, and that was for additional information, not correcting the computer.
The most surprising trip had to be the Skokie Swift -- although perhaps just because I am not familiar with the area. I was expecting the mid-day train I was on to be nearly empty, thinking there was really just a park & ride at the end. The train was almost 3/4 full both ways, and there was a lot of development along the way. Any plans to add more stops to this line, and perhaps through route it to downtown? Seems like it would be a good time, with the third rail in.
I was surprised by the number of wooden El platforms that are left. Is the CTA still putting in new wood platforms, or are these just holdovers from the past that haven't been replaced yet?
The airport connections were a nice change too. The day I flew back to Boston, I have to admit I was quite disappointed in the process one goes through to get to our Blue Line at Logan Airport. While there may be a long walk at O'Hare or Midway, it sure beats going outside for a bus ride to the subway. And both airports seemed to be well signed for the route to the El station -- even with the construction in the American terminal at O'Hare.
Finally, and I know that this is a rail forum, but we also made extensive use of the Michigan Ave. buses -- all of which appeared to be much cleaner and better maintained than our buses. This was the first city where I've ever used the buses as a visitor, and found them to be quite easy to use.
I'm sure that regular riders could argue with my perceptions of the system, but my feeling after five days was that the MBTA could learn a few things from the CTA, especially in vehicle cleaning and maintenance, and operational discipline. I sure hope that the political and financial problems don't start damaging the system.
Wondering if I'll see the Western Route double-tracking finished before I retire...
Photo: Melbourne W7 No. 1019 on Route 78, Bridge & Church Streets, Richmond, Victoria. 10/21/2010
Photo: Melbourne W7 No. 1019 on Route 78, Bridge & Church Streets, Richmond, Victoria. 10/21/2010
