Last week the National Transportation Safety Board announced that operator fatigue was the probable cause of the 2014 Chicago Transit Authority passenger train accident at O’Hare station. NTSB determined that CTA did not effectively manage the operator’s work schedule to mitigate the risk of fatigue.
The operator had worked 12 consecutive days and fell asleep while on duty. As a result the train failed to stop and went up an escalator at the end of the track used by the public to enter Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
To ensure safer fatigue management in mass transit nationwide, the NTSB recommended that the Federal Transit Administration develop a work scheduling program for rail transit agencies that reduces the risk of fatigue. The NTSB also recommended that the FTA establish hours of service regulations for mass transit operators.
