CTA fires train operator who fatally struck woman on Red Line tracks

The CTA has fired the operator who was driving the train that fatally struck a woman at the 69^th Street Red Line station last month.

The operator was found to be inattentive to duty after it was determined that he was not looking at the tracks ahead for several seconds prior to striking the woman, the CTA said.

The employee, who was not identified, was terminated last week, according to a spokesman for the transit agency, which called the now-former employee’s actions “unacceptable and in violation of CTA policy and procedures.”

“Following an extensive investigation that involved multiple activities — interviewing employees and witnesses, reviewing available video, examining equipment, and other steps — CTA found that the train operator violated guidelines regarding train operations, including attention to duty and safe train operations,” the CTA said in a statement Friday.

A representative for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 declined to comment on the employee’s firing.

In the afternoon hours of June 27, Felon Smith, 37, was on the platform of the 69^th Street Red Line station when she dropped her phone onto the tracks.

She climbed down to get it and was fatally struck by an oncoming northbound train.

Security video was released and showed a private security guard standing by as Smith was struck.