A man was taken into custody after another man was critically injured in a stabbing at the Division stop on the CTA Blue Line in Wicker Park on Wednesday evening.
Police said a man was on the CTA platform in the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue just before 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday when he got into a fight with another man.
Police said the fight escalated, and one of the men stabbed the other with a sharp object.
The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with cuts to his neck and back.
Chicago police said the offender was taken into custody, and charges are pending.
Police dispatch reports said the victim told officers the attacker appeared to be an unhoused person who frequents the stop.
Area Five detectives are investigating.
The attack comes as the CTA is rolling out a new program aimed at improving rider safety. The Safe Ride Specialist pilot program puts trained crisis intervention and violence prevention workers on parts of the system. Their job is to help de-escalate conflicts and connect people in need with services.
At a recent CTA board meeting, the agency's chief planning and innovation officer, Molly Poppe, spoke about seeing the teams in action.
"What I witnesses, and I really wasn't prepared for, you don't see it until you're there, is the level of de-escalation presence that they bring to the system, not just for the people who they're working with, but for all riders,"
The yearlong pilot program operates on parts of the Red, Blue, and Green lines, but the Division station on the Blue Line is not on the program's listed deployment areas, and the stabbing happened after the Safe Ride Specialists' scheduled hours.
The CTA said the program is one part of its broader security strategy, which also includes additional police patrols.
