From the NYT:
Impatient Subway Riders Revolt in Chicago
"Impatient Subway Riders Revolt in Chicago
By CATRIN EINHORN
CHICAGO — The packed rush-hour subway train had been stopped for about an hour Tuesday morning, held up by a malfunctioning train ahead. In air hot and stuffy, the passengers had turned nervous and impatient. Ignoring pleas of transit workers, they decided to leave the train and walk through the dimly lighted tunnel toward freedom.
The unauthorized evacuation, transit officials said, caused a bigger problem. Fearing that passengers could be electrocuted by the third rail, officials cut off power to part of the Blue Line, which travels a large U-shaped route between the West Side and O’Hare International Airport. Service was disrupted for about four hours, and more than a thousand passengers had to be helped off several trains.
“If those particular passengers had not self-evacuated, we could have gotten people out on trains and restored service much sooner,� said Ron Huberman, president of the Chicago Transit Authority. ...
"
I wonder how common this is. I remember reading about this happening in London's Underground early in the last century. Would certainty about how long the delay would be have calmed the riders?
Once more into the aisles!