Consider this. A man leaves his job on a Friday afternoon at the same time he usually does, right down to the Minute. He doesn't run to the Train or walk any faster than he normally would. The train arrives at the station at its usual time, and he gets on.

By the time he gets home, he has a sudden realization. His trip, somehow, some way, took 10 minutes less than usual.

Not five or six. 10.

Could it be a mysterious reverse bermuda triangle has developed in the Loop, in which trains are not lost, but somehow sped through the bottlenecks? Was it just dumb luck? Or could it be, that after nearly a year of track work, construction and delays, the CTA has finally, bit by bit, begun to actually show some results?

We'll see Monday whether this is a permanent change or just a one-time mystery.