32 people were injured in a train derailment at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago after the train overran the end of the line early Monday, March 24th. The train crash occurred around 2:50 a.m. local time after the train operator fell asleep at the controls during a long shift.
Amazingly, no one was critically injured in the crash. According to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, which represents the train operators, the driver of the derailed train had worked over 60 hours in the past week. Representatives from the union confirmed that the driver indicated she was exhausted at the time of the crash. In a previous incident, the same driver had overshot a station platform.
Lawsuits against the Chicago Transport Authority have already been filed. The lawsuits, filed by airport workers commuting to O’Hare for their shifts, cited conductor error, faulty brakes, and excessive speed as potential causes for the derailment.
