Badger City presents - Wednesday's CTA red line AM commute

[VIDEO] This is a rare moment a videoblog for the Shedd School blog termed a Badger City presentation, a Sixth Ward production. It records my commute from the south side to downtown. As it turns out there was a problem.

From what I heard from our operator the whole State Street subway was closed due to police activity. As a result our train and all other red line trains would have to be rerouted through the loop elevated making all brown line stops before returning to their regular routes.

When I started recording at the Garfield stop our operator started snapping over the PA system telling us that the emergency buttons aren't to be used for asking directions. Even suggested if anyone wanted directions everyone should have a cell phone, especially a smartphone. Use your phones to figure out where you need to go he would state.

After we leave Garfield, another voice comes onto the PA system. I don't know if he was from a control center somewhere or from our train but he tries to offer directions for those passengers trying to get where they need to go. Of course our operator also chimes in saying there are those customers who still don't get it. I'm sure he was still getting people pressing the emergency button even after this other voice starts speaking on the train.

The rest of the video after Cermak-Chinatown shows my train going over the top the way trains from 95th used to go through downtown Chicago. We go on tracks along 18th Street and then we turn north on a right of way between State Street and Wabash Avenue. Before arriving at the elevation Roosevelt stop our operator announces that the State Street subway has been reopened. The other voice chimes in again to let us know of the next stops after Roosevelt.