Delays For Metra, Amtrak After Train Derailment At Union Station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A train derailment Tuesday night at Union Station caused delays on several Metra lines during the Wednesday morning commute, which could extend all day.
Crews are working to remove the Metra train on Amtrak's rails. After the trains are removed, the tracks will need to be inspected. Officials say the delays could extend into the evening rush hour.
With Tuesday night's derailment, there were fewer tracks for trains to use Wednesday morning, CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.
If you take the Southwest Service, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line, or the Heritage Corridor line in or out of the city you should expect delays of up to a half hour.
Southwest Service train 842 derailed while it was arriving at Union Station just before 11 p.m. Three of the eight cars on the train derailed. The other five cars and the locomotive remained on the tracks, and the derailed cars remained upright, Metra said.
There were three passengers onboard the train at the time and no injuries were reported. But the switch used to control the trains was damaged.
The Southwest Service Corridor between the city and Manhattan and the BNSF line between the city and Aurora will likely have up to 30 minute delays. The Heritage Corridor between the city and Joliet is seeing 15 minute delays.
"It's blocking several tracks which means we have few tracks available to operate our rush hour service this morning so that's going to cause some congestion and it's going to cause some delays," said Michael Gillis, Metra spokesperson. "It's likely the evening rush hour will also be impacted."
Amtrak trains are also affected in the south concourse of Union Station. Trains on the even numbered tracks could be delayed up to 30 minutes.
Some trains arriving and departing from Union Station will be using different tracks on Wednesday, so passengers should be sure to listen closely to station announcements to see if there are particular train is affected.
