The operator of a CTA Yellow Line train that slammed into a snowplow on the tracks last November, injuring some two dozen people, had alcohol in his system after the crash, a recent federal report found.
A hospital blood test around 11:20 a.m., about an hour after the crash, showed the operator had ethanol in his system at a level of 0.06 grams per deciliter of blood, according to a National Transportation Safety Board medical report made public in August. A later federal test of hospital blood samples detected ethanol at a rate of about 0.04 grams per deciliter, and detected none of the other substances tested for, the NTSB report shows.
The hospital test is “an unconfirmed clinical test,” and it includes a disclaimer that results are not intended for legal purposes, the report notes.
The NTSB report stated the effects of ethanol, the alcohol found in beer, wine and liquor, can vary depending on the person consuming it, but levels as low as 0.02 grams per deciliter can lead to relaxation and loss of judgement, and levels of 0.05 grams per deciliter “have been found to further degrade judgement, psychomotor functioning, and alterness.”
Federal Transit Administration rules require employers to ban employees from performing a “safety-sensitive function” with a blood alcohol level of 0.04 grams per deciliter or higher. Additional rules limit when employees can conduct similar safety-related tasks if their blood alcohol is between 0.02 and 0.04 grams per deciliter.
The operator, 47, had been issued a commercial motor vehicle driver medical certificate — which the CTA requires operators to obtain prior to employment — in August 2021, and again in August 2023, according to the NTSB. He had been enrolled in the CTA’s random drug and alcohol testing program, but hadn’t yet been selected for testing at the time of the crash, the report found.
The NTSB has not yet issued its final determination of what caused the November 2023 crash.
In the crash, a Yellow Line train was approaching the Howard station near the border of Chicago and Evanston with 30 passengers aboard when it rear-ended a “snow-fighter” track-plowing train that was on the tracks for scheduled training. At least 16 people were taken to hospitals after the crash, three of them critically injured, according to a preliminary NTSB report. Initial reports from first responders had indicated 23 people were taken to hospitals.
Seven CTA employees were among those injured in the crash: six on the snowplow, and the operator of the passenger train. Two employees were among the people listed in critical condition, according to a copy of a police report, which described officers arriving on the scene who saw one CTA employee who had seemingly been ejected from the snowplow and trapped underneath the equipment.
The crash left the Yellow Line, also known as the Skokie Swift, closed for weeks while the CTA worked to ensure the safety of the line, examined its train system and conducted testing. Since then, the CTA has lowered maximum speeds on the Yellow Line from 55 mph to 35 mph, with speeds in the area of the collision lowered to 25 mph.
The crash also caused about $8.7 million in damages to equipment and sparked multiple lawsuits.
A preliminary report from the NTSB issued in December found the operator hit the brakes in the moments leading up to the crash. The train was traveling at 54 miles per hour, below the maximum 55 miles per hour speed set by the CTA, when the signal system alerted the operator to stop for the snowplow ahead, the preliminary report found.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at the time the operator appeared to be engaged, in control and following CTA protocol leading up to the crash.
“We don’t believe that the operator, at this time, was in any way at fault,” she said at the time.
She indicated at the time the NTSB was investigating CTA’s signal system, which affects the way and the distance in which trains can be stopped and which she described as dated, along with braking systems, residue from organic material on the tracks, and other factors.
The NTSB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The president of the union that represents rail operators also did not immediately return a request for comment.
In a statement, CTA officials said the agency’s drug and alcohol testing program complies with federal regulations, and requires employees like operators to undergo testing before employment, before return to duty and after a collision. Employees also undergo testing if there is “reasonable suspicion” they are under the influence while on duty.
The CTA conducts about 350 to 450 random drug and alcohol tests each month, the agency said in the statement.
The CTA referred questions about the crash and details in the report to the NTSB, citing the ongoing investigation.
The train operator continues to be out of service, the CTA said.
