A Yellow Line train crashed into a slow-moving snowplow on the tracks near the Howard station on the North Side on Thursday, injuring at least 38 people, three of them critically. Four children, the youngest of whom was 2, were injured, suffering “bumps and bruises.”
None of the injuries was life-threatening.
But the chaotic scene near the Far North Side station just hours after the morning rush hour jarred commuters and passersby alike.
As passengers were led off the train, some were brought into a triage center lined with stretchers to be assessed. One passenger was bleeding heavily from the head. A family with a young child in a stroller who were let off the train talked to police on a nearby street corner, planning to follow an injured family member to the hospital.
Shayla Smith, who was headed to work in Wilmette, said she had just boarded a Purple Line train at Howard when she heard the collision. Passengers on her train began screaming, and she saw an elderly woman nearly fall out of her seat, she said.
“I just heard like a horrible boom sound,” she said. “It was like a weird boom sound. It felt like we’re gonna tip over, and I was wondering what’s going on.”
“My body shivered,” she said, adding that the experience was “traumatizing.”
Twenty-three people were taken to hospitals, and 15 refused care, officials said. The CTA operator, who was near the point of collision, was among the most critically injured.
A spokesperson for Illinois Masonic Medical Center said the hospital is treating three patients from the crash. One person is in serious condition and the other two are in fair condition.
Swedish Covenant Hospital treated six people, who were all in good condition, according to a spokesperson.
About 10:35 a.m., the fire department received a report of a “train vs. train” incident in the CTA yard, said Robert Jurewicz, Fire Department 2nd District chief, during a media briefing at the scene.
Firefighters found that a southbound Yellow Line train had collided with a slow-moving snowplow about 300 yards from the Howard station in the 7500 block of North Paulina Street. Both vehicles were moving in the same direction, but the train was moving about 30 mph, while the plow was at a “slow crawl,” about 10 mph, said fire department spokesperson Larry Langford. “The train was much faster, and it rear-ended the plow.”
All trains were stopped, the power was shut off, and the 31 riders and seven CTA staff members were evacuated.
“Our thoughts are with all affected, and we are grateful for our brave first responders on the scene,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “We are working closely with emergency services as we continue to monitor this incident.”
Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), whose Far North Side ward includes the Howard Street station, said she has been in close communication with police and with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
“Being so close by, we were hearing all of the fire trucks and ambulances, then the news helicopter,” she said, adding that she had not heard preliminary reports from the CTA about the cause of the crash. “Obviously, there are questions about the equipment. But right now, it’s all questions. I haven’t even heard speculation.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, CTA officials said.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that it would conduct an investigation into the crash.
CTA Yellow Line service remains suspended near the Howard station. Red Line service, which had been suspended between Howard and Thorndale, was delayed through midafternoon Thursday. Purple Line service has returned to normal.
The first lawsuit associated with the crash was filed Thursday. Cleon Hawkins, a 52-year-old Chicago man who was hospitalized after the crash, sued the CTA in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit alleges the “commuter train was operated negligently,” according to a news release issued by the firm representing him, Clifford Law Offices.
CTA train crashes are uncommon. In 2019, a southbound Brown Line train collided with a southbound Purple Line train near the Sedgwick station in Old Town. Fourteen people were taken to hospitals in good condition.
In 2014, a CTA operator dozed off on a Blue Line train before crashing into O’Hare International Airport, and 32 people were injured. The accident caused $9.1 million in damage, and sparked several lawsuits and a federal investigation.
Contributing: David Struett, Emmanuel Camarillo, Fran Spielman
