Shorter Consists: How to Not Stop Short
As a Ravenswood Branch (Brown Line) motorman, I liked operating 4-car trains more than 8-car trains. When the Pandemic hit, we ended up with maximum consist (8-car) trains all day and night (6-car on Purple and Green Lines). It's been that way since. It sucks! However, this weekend, the CTA management posted alerts that as of May 31st, consist length would be cut to 4-cars on the weekends (hopefully on the late nights too). Personally, I think this is good news (although it's not as good as having Two-Person Crews ). I have been preaching about this publicly for the past few years. I am not taking credit for it, but it is something that annoys me—and makes me feel better for train operators. Running 8-car consists all day and night wears out the rail cars mechanically, makes them difficult to clean, invites vagrancy and makes it difficult to clear continuous riders). It's truly a lazy way to manage rail operations at the CTA. The only downside to switching from 4- to 8-car...
