Blue Line train hit car

I was watching this on Channel 2 this morning, and I never seen this happen before.

About 4:20am there were a 2 car accident on the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway(I-290) and one of the cars became airborne, jumped over the retainer wall, and the fence that separates the tracks from the highway. When it landed it landed on the westbound blue line track, in the path of a westbound train, the westbound CTA train hit the car, and the driver manages to jump clear of the third rail, and took off from the scene. Reports that the lead car slightly derailed, power is shut off, and service on the CTA was suspended from Pulaski to Harlem stations. Passengers on the train were held while medical workers check each passengers for any injuries.

Complete store here via CBS 2.
Link from CBS 2 Chicago.
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/eisenhower ... 40093.html

Saw it on the news this morning.

Interesting quote: "Probably driving too fast"...do ya think so? To get launched over the wall the car had to be going at a pretty good clip. I hope the train operator is OK.

Interesting how the first car derailed...maybe caused by the angle of the car in relation to how the train hit it?

JT and CTF: This looked like it was quite a nasty accident-no doubt a combination of speed and wet roadways.
From the pics it looks like somehow the car got over the guardrails at that location-I remember from the past they were double regular guardrails with strip rails below them-it looked like there were NO jersey walls present there.
At least the driver had sense enough to get out fast and NOT contact the third rail.
Was that car #2214 that was involved?
Perhaps that pair may get a quick retirement being the oldest cars that CTA currently operates.
Another question I have: Is that stretch of track one that the CTA has installed plastic composite ties?
Hopefully all CTA workers involved are OK and the damage to equipment and track is minimal.
MACTRAXX

The car probably just lost its snow-scraper pilot and the driver's side stepladder. They'll rerail it, tow it to the Des Plaines or Rosemont shops, replace the necessary parts and it'll be hauling passengers again late next week.

I'm surprised a 2200 was leading since they are often assigned to the middle of the blue line trains because they have blinker doors which wheelchairs can't get through. Cars in the 2600 series usually lead blue line trains.

Tom6921 wrote:I'm surprised a 2200 was leading since they are often assigned to the middle of the blue line trains because they have blinker doors which wheelchairs can't get through. Cars in the 2600 series usually lead blue line trains.

Correct. But a 4-car train was involved in the accident, and 2200's can lead on those trains. On eight-car trains however, they're almost always among the middle four cars (aka "belly cars") in the consist, with a 2600 series unit on either end...