Pedestrian Fatally Struck By Metra Train
(CBS) -- Trains on the Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line were delayed Tuesday evening for as much as three hours after a pedestrian walked in front of an express train in northwest suburban Park Ridge.
The person was struck shortly after 5 p.m. by an express train bound for McHenry that was not scheduled to stop until it reached Barrington, said Metra spokesperson Meg Thomas Reile.
The spot where the person was hit is midway between the Park Ridge and Dee Road stations, she said.
Reile said that the accident occurred at about 5 p.m., and immediately halted all service on the line. Service was not restored until about 8:20 p.m. Reile attributed much of the delay to a deputy Cook County Medical Examiner, who could not make it to the scene until 6:45 p.m. to declare the victim dead.
The pedestrian was struck by Train 631, which had been due in McHenry at 6:02 p.m. A dozen other trains were delayed, and one was canceled. Reile said Metra cancelled Train 654, scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 6:23 p.m., when it reached Des Plaines because of federal regulations governing the number of hours a crew can work on a train.
Reile said passengers who were already aboard Train 654 were picked up by a subsequent train at the Des Plaines station.
