Evacuation

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

Growing up in and around New York City, I’d been taught from an early age — by parents and in school — to avoid the dangers of the “third rail” that powered the LIRR and MTA subways. The third rail had an almost mythical presence in the mind of a kid, and would be prominently featured in playground stories, like the troll under the bridge.

I guess Chicago’s El riders didn’t get quite the same indoctrination:

The packed rush-hour subway train had been stopped for about an hour Tuesday morning, held up by a malfunctioning train ahead. In air hot and stuffy, the passengers had turned nervous and impatient. Ignoring pleas of transit workers, they decided to leave the train and walk through the dimly lighted tunnel toward freedom.

The unauthorized evacuation, transit officials said, caused a bigger problem. Fearing that passengers could be electrocuted by the third rail, officials cut off power to part of the Blue Line, which travels a large U-shaped route between the West Side and O’Hare International Airport. Service was disrupted for about four hours, and more than a thousand passengers had to be helped off several trains.

I guess I’d be pretty antsy, too, after an hour of sitting in a trapped subway car.