Millennium Station Evacuated After Fire Alarm; Metra Electric And South Shore Line Trains Delayed

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Millennium Station was evacuated for about half an hour Thursday morning after fire alarms and sprinklers started going off, compounding delays for the Metra Electric District following wire problems.

According to Metra, a fire alarm and some sprinklers went off in the station around 9:30 a.m., so they had to evacuate the entire station, and inbound and outbound trains were halted.

The Fire Department said there was no actual fire at the station, just a problem with the sprinkler system.

The Metra Electric District already was dealing with extensive delays, as trains had been unable to enter or exit the station due to wire problems earlier Thursday morning. All tracks at the station reopened by about 9 a.m., but trains were still running behind schedule when they had to stop again due to the evacuation of Millennium Station.

South Shore Line trains also were delayed due to Metra's wire issues, and the evacuation of the station.

Fire Department officials said the station was evacuated for about half an hour. Metra said trains were moving again by 10:15 a.m., but were still experiencing extensive delays.