By Megan Reichgott
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Chicago commuters headed back into the downtown subway stations Wednesday morning, a day after an eight-car train derailed and sparked a tunnel fire that injured more than 150 people during the height of rush hour.
The damaged, soot-covered train was hauled back to a railyard after the rush hour derailment Tuesday evening, and the downtown Blue Line stations reopened Wednesday, but with delays.
“It took me three hours to get home yesterday, so hopefully (it will be) a little bit better getting to work than coming home,” commuter Alicia Hutchinson said as she entered a downtown Blue Line station Wednesday morning. “Luckily, everybody got out OK.”
At least two injured passengers remained hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition as federal investigators tried to determine why the train’s rear wheels jumped the track. Law enforcement officials said there was no indication of foul play or terrorism.
As many as 1,000 people were aboard when the eight-car train heading to O’Hare International Airport derailed shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday and material under the train caught fire, said Chicago Transit Authority President Frank Kruesi.
“It felt like it jumped the line, and a fire started in the car behind me,” said Joel Johnson, 24, of Chicago, whose face and white shirt were covered in soot when he emerged Tuesday with hundreds of other riders who had made their way along a wall through the darkened, smoke-filled tunnel to an emergency exit leading to the street.
“I saw the orange flames but I didn’t hear it,” Johnson said. “I could barely breathe.”
The shutdown of the downtown stretch of the Blue Line — which takes travelers from one of the nation’s busiest airports to the business district, its Amtrak stations and then Chicago’s West Side — left commuters to patch together new routes Tuesday evening using buses, taxis or multiple train lines.
Chicago Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco said 152 passengers were taken to 12 hospitals, primarily to be treated for smoke inhalation, and 33 others refused treatment.
Officials said it was too early to say what caused the derailment and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
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Associated Press Writer Don Babwin contributed to this report.
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