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The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is creating up to 700 customer-service positions at L stations throughout the city as part of a plan to provide better rail service.

The new, part-time "customer service assistants" (CSAs) will aid riders at stations in a variety of ways, from answering questions to helping passengers with disabilities to handling or reporting problems with station equipment and facilities, CTA officials said in a prepared statement.

The new CSAs will complement CTA's existing staff of 200 full-time customer assistants, who are assigned to the agency's busiest rail stations at peak ridership hours, including those along the Red and Blue lines.

"Our goal is to increase the level of service to customers and to promote job opportunities that benefit our region's economy," said CTA President Forrest Claypool.

The move to CSAs is expected to save the agency about $2 million a year over the current cost for contract workers. The CSAs will be paid $12 and $14 per hour, receive health benefits and will be members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.