A man was critically injured Tuesday afternoon after falling from a CTA platform and being struck by a train in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. The fall happened around 2:50 p.m. at the Morgan and Lake station, located at 958 W. Lake St., sending Green and Pink Line service into disarray during the heart of the workday.
Police said the man sustained trauma and bruising and was taken to a local hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition, according to NBC Chicago. He had been on the train platform at the Morgan and Lake station when he fell and was struck by a train, police said. No additional information was immediately available, according to the station's report.
The collision set off a cascade of delays across two CTA rail lines. Loop-bound Pink Line and 63rd-bound Green Line trains bypassed the Morgan and Lake station during the emergency response, with the disruption lasting just over an hour, per the same account. CBS News Chicago reported that the CTA posted its service alert for major delays at 2:49 p.m. and that trains on both lines were stopped for a little more than half an hour before resuming without stopping at the station.
Shuttle Buses Deployed as Lines Bypassed Station
While the station remained closed to incoming trains, CTA requested shuttle buses to serve the Green Line between Harlem/Lake and Clark/Lake in both directions, and the Pink Line between Polk and Clark/Lake in both directions, CBS News Chicago reported. Normal CTA service had resumed by 4:15 p.m., though delays remained, according to NBC Chicago. Riders heading into the Loop during the afternoon rush were warned that residual delays were possible, though it was not known at the time how long they would last, per CBS News Chicago's report.
The Morgan and Lake stop sits in the West Loop, where a rider was critically injured under similar circumstances less than a month earlier. A 39-year-old man was critically injured in late September when he fell from a CTA Blue Line platform onto the tracks and was struck by an oncoming train near the Clinton station, also in the West Loop, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Police said that earlier incident occurred around 5:55 a.m. along the 400 block of South Clinton Street, and the man was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.
Platform Safety Under Scrutiny Systemwide
Tuesday's fall comes amid broader scrutiny of safety on CTA platforms, though the evidence available does not establish whether this incident involved another person or was accidental. Separate reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times has documented more than 60 instances of riders being shoved onto CTA tracks recorded in agency paperwork since 2021, amounting to roughly one incident a month. The Sun-Times also reported a Yellow Line derailment.
More than 60 shoving incidents have been reported since 2021, with no deaths, according to the Sun-Times. The agency also told the Sun-Times it increased law enforcement hours on its system by 75 percent as part of its March 2026 Security Enhancement Plan. Separately, the Federal Transit Administration issued Special Directive SD 25-3, requiring immediate, measurable corrective actions to reduce assaults on transit workers and passengers and address unsafe system conditions tied to violent crime on CTA bus and rail service, according to federal filings reviewed through transit.dot.gov.
About a dozen track-shoving incidents were reported in 2025, with a similar number recorded in 2024, per the Sun-Times analysis. It remains unclear whether Tuesday's incident at Morgan and Lake will be classified among those statistics, since the available reporting describes a fall rather than an assault. Police said no additional information was immediately available as the investigation continued.
