CTA Yellow Line to reopen Friday

Daily file photo by Daniel Tian

The Yellow Line, which has been suspended since a train crash near the Howard CTA station in November, will run at a slower maximum speed when it reopens Friday.

Casey He, City Editor

January 4, 2024

The Chicago Transit Authority will reopen the Yellow Line Friday, according to a CTA news release published Thursday.

The three-stop line between the Dempster-Skokie and Howard CTA stations, also known as the Skokie Swift, has been suspended for 49 days since a Yellow Line train crashed into a snow removal machine on the track near the Howard station on Nov. 16.

The crash left three people critically injured, including the operator, but there were no fatalities, according to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board in early December. The NTSB’s investigation is still ongoing and will examine if the railcars, the signal system or “organic material” on the track had an impact on the accident.

In the news release, CTA also announced it would reduce the speed limit on the Yellow Line to 35 mph from its previous 55 mph.

“I wanted to make sure we looked at every aspect of this incident, as thoroughly as we could, to ensure the highest levels of safety when we reopened,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. in the new release.

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