Bystanders looked in shock as three young adults sat on the rail tracks at the Ridgeland Green Line station in Illinois. While they were already disobeying transit authority rules, they seemed to miss another one, to never touch the third rail.
Sitting on the Tracks
The unidentified group of three friends were on their way to Lollapalooza, a popular music festival based in Chicago on August 5, 2023. In the released CCTV footage, they can be seen sitting directly on the rail tracks and taking selfies before getting electrocuted from touching the third rail.
Several of their friends standing on the platform desperately jumped down in order to rescue the three. First responders rushed to the scene where the boy on the far right was unconscious and suffered a cardiac arrest. The girl, on the other hand, faced less severe injuries and stayed conscious upon arrival at the Loyola University Medical Center.
Third Rail System
The “third rail system” that the group were sitting on is commonly used for metros that operate above ground. A train component known as a collector makes contact with the third rail that is energized with up to 750 volts.
As the train moves along the track, the electricity from the third rail is transmitted by the collector to power the train. The return current flows back through one of the two main rails. When the boy sitting on the far right of the main rail leaned back to touch the third rail, he completed the circuit and was consequently electrocuted.
Data from the Chicago Transit Authority states that their system uses 600 volts of direct current. 50 volts of electricity are enough to kill a human, with some fatal incidents occurring with as low as 42 volts.
Although these systems offer reliability and are environmentally friendly, they pose a big danger to passengers and maintenance workers. The incident that happened in Chicago, Illinois is a cautionary tale to stay off the tracks and to be aware of the potentially fatal consequences of touching the third rail.
