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Chicago Metra Train Hits 15 Cars
WLS TV ^ | 11/23/05 | GRRRRR

Posted on 11/23/2005 6:26:25 PM PST by GRRRRR

November 23, 2005 (Elmwood Park, IL) - A Metra train has struck more than a dozen vehicles at a crossing in northwest suburban Elmwood Park. It happened around 4:45 p.m. on Grand near Harlem. It was Metra's North Central train number 107 running express from Chicago's Union Station.

t least 15 ambulances have been called to the scene and 13 people have been transported to area hospitals. It is unclear if anyone on board the train was injured but about a dozen vehicles are involved in the crash. This is a long crossing at Grand and Harlem.

not clear why so many vehicles were on the tracks at the time.

A Metra spokesman says a train heading from downtown Chicago to Antioch struck several vehicles during the holiday rush hour.

Spokesman Patrick Waldron says at least one of the vehicles burst into flames as a result of the accident.

There was no information available regarding injuries.

Waldron says the train probably was carrying several hundred passengers when the collision occurred. It left Chicago's Union Station at 4:25 p.m.

Elmwood Park is located about 14 miles northwest of Chicago. The rail crossing cuts through a busy diagonal intersection that runs into Chicago.

A Metra spokesperson say the engineer of the express train did see cars on the tracks and tried to stop, but could not so in time to avoid the accident. An express train can run at speeds of 55 to 60 miles per hour.

Metra says the accident shut down the Milwaukee District West Line, and the North Central Line for about 2-hours. Both lines reopened just before 7:00 p.m. but trains will be traveling at greatly reduced speeds through the accident zone.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: chicago; elmwood; metra
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1 posted on 11/23/2005 6:26:26 PM PST by GRRRRR
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To: GRRRRR

2 posted on 11/23/2005 6:27:03 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: GRRRRR

Is Metra a word?


3 posted on 11/23/2005 6:28:29 PM PST by Daralundy
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To: GRRRRR

4 posted on 11/23/2005 6:28:49 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: Daralundy

Chicago, MEtropolitan TRAnsit


5 posted on 11/23/2005 6:29:54 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: GRRRRR

Is it a Metra or a Metro? I thought it was an "El".

Maybe it was a Metro in drag.


6 posted on 11/23/2005 6:30:05 PM PST by hang 'em (mohammed was a pussy)
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To: GRRRRR

Looks like the crossing arm is down in that photo. Is this a case of traffic getting so heavy that cars got caught on the tracks, or did the crossing arms not function properly?

That many cars on the tracks seems very strange indeed.


7 posted on 11/23/2005 6:31:18 PM PST by DoughtyOne (MSM: Public support for war waining. 403/3 House vote against pullout vaporizes another lie.)
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To: hang 'em

The El is the Elevated line around the City.

Metra stands for Metropolitan Transit, it goes mostly from the suburbs to downtown.


8 posted on 11/23/2005 6:33:23 PM PST by RWR8189 (George Allen 2008)
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To: DoughtyOne

This was an express, doesn't make all the stops on its way North...

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At Least 13 Injured In Multi-Car Metra Collision

One Car Reportedly On Fire

POSTED: 5:14 pm CST November 23, 2005
UPDATED: 8:02 pm CST November 23, 2005
A commuter train struck several vehicles during the holiday rush hour in suburban Chicago Wednesday, injuring at least 13 people, a Metra spokesman said.


Video: Multi-Vehicle Crash
Updated Images: Sky5
Metra Updates

Anne Dillon, a spokeswoman for Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, said two people involved in the accident were brought to the hospital. The victims, both female, were in serious condition, she said.

Four people were taken to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, but none had life-threatening injuries, said nursing supervisor Pete Eget.

Elmwood Park is northwest of Chicago. The rail crossing cuts through a busy diagonal intersection that runs into Chicago. A street sign aside the tracks reads, "Long crossing. Do not stop on the tracks."

The train had just passed through a station shortly before the accident, likely without stopping, Metra spokesman Patrick Waldron said.

"It was not scheduled to stop there," he said.

At least one of the vehicles burst into flames as a result of the accident, which occurred just before 5 p.m. in Elmwood Park, Waldron said. Emergency crews from several neighboring communities were dispatched to the scene.

"I turned the news on and that's how we found out," said neighborhood resident Linda Tipia. "That's when we first saw the report. I have daughters who work in the area, so I immediately became concerned about them, so I started making phone calls to make sure they were safe."

Metra spokeswoman Audrey Renteria said she did not know whether gates that halt traffic at the intersection were working when the accident occurred.

Witnesses gave conflicting reports Wednesday as to whether the gates were up or down.

Christina Rodriguez, 29, of Chicago said she was driving eastbound on Grand Avenue when her car and several others were trapped between the crossing gate arms that came down.

"I saw the train lights," she said. "I tried to move but I couldn't move. Nobody moved." She said that she jumped from her car seconds before the crash and ran to safety.

John Pease, 32, who lives across from the accident site, said he did not see any warning lights flashing when he looked out his apartment window and saw the end of the accident.

"The gates were definitely up," Pease said, adding that he saw the gates come down after the collision.

The train struck five vehicles, setting off a chain reaction that ultimately involved about a dozen vehicles, Waldron said.

Allan Pollack, a passenger on the train, said the train was moving 50 to 60 miles and hour at the time of the accident. The passengers aboard the train appeared not to have suffered any major injuries, Sky5's Mike Lorber reported. Several ambulances were on the scene of the crash.

"We couldn't see anything, we could only hear things, because it was pretty dark outside when this occurred," Pollack said. "We felt the train trying to stop fast, and we got jerked around a little bit. Then the train stopped within 30 seconds of that attempt to stop real fast."

Pollack said the train was just past the River Grove station and was going between 50 andn 60 miles per hour, because we were two to three minutes past the station. Pollack said the train was a local train, but the next stop was not to be until the O'Hare stop.

"It wasn't that big of a jostling, there wasn't actually things falling on the floor. There was a little bit of a commotion when we heard the news what happened, but we had no idea what was happening because it was a very slight pull when we felt the train trying to stop very fast."

Greg Sandford said he had driven across the tracks in stop-and-go traffic when he saw in his rear view mirror the accident.

"The van in front of me stopped short and I stopped and the train just plowed through," said Sandford, a 27-year-old engineer from Chicago.

"The train hit maybe six or eight cars and they hit other cars and they careened into my car," said Sandford, who said that because the traffic was so slow he was only about five car lengths away from the tracks when the accident occurred. He also said there were no flashing lights at the tracks when he crossed.

Sandford said the train was an express train that not stopped in Elmwood Park. "It was going at a good clip," he said.

The train, which left Chicago's Union Station at 4:25 p.m., and was headed for Antioch, was probably carrying several hundred passengers when the accident occurred, although all of the injuries appear to have occurred outside the train, Waldron said.

Norman Seiff, who was on the scene, said police were diverting traffic around the scene, and described the side streets as "one big traffic jam." Seiff said he counted 15 cars that were involved in the accident.

"We didn't hear a thing," Seiff said. "We just started looking out the window and we saw the police cars and the fire engines race to the area. We opened the window and we could smell the smoke and we saw papers flying."

Lee Santucci of Elmwood Park was walking in the area shortly after the accident.

"I saw one car burning on the tracks," he said.

Emergency crews from several neighboring communities were dispatched to the scene.

Metra says the train was probably carrying several hundred passengers when the collision occurred.


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9 posted on 11/23/2005 6:33:35 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: hang 'em
Metra's had a tough year... they've had school kids, college kids and pedestrians killed recently.

A couple of years ago a promising young violinist lost her leg when her violin got caught in the doors as they closed and the girl was dragged under the train.

I take Metra every day; it's cheap and reliable, generally.

The best part is that the conductors don't take crap from anyone; I've seen them stop the train in the middle of nowhere and toss off a drunk.

10 posted on 11/23/2005 6:34:14 PM PST by IncPen (Because it's not your money, Senator Kennedy. It's mine, and I'd like to keep it)
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To: GRRRRR
Pardon my ignorance but how can 1 train hit so many cars?
Were they all lined up on the tracks?
11 posted on 11/23/2005 6:34:30 PM PST by perfect stranger
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To: IncPen

The METRA gets millions of suburban Chicago residents into and out of the City with nary a problem. As you say, the conductors don't take crap and it's as safe as walking to your own living room.

www.metra.com

NO LOCAL TV coverage still, just "MORE AT 10.."...

Horrible start to the Holiday Weekend...no reports of any deaths yet.


12 posted on 11/23/2005 6:36:19 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: perfect stranger

Pretty good question - that one struck me as well.


13 posted on 11/23/2005 6:36:36 PM PST by Chi-townChief
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To: GRRRRR

Dang, parking must really be hard to find in Chicago.


14 posted on 11/23/2005 6:36:58 PM PST by Nachoman
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To: GRRRRR

Proper link to their site is www.metrarail.com

15 posted on 11/23/2005 6:37:54 PM PST by GRRRRR (America is a better place because of people like us...)
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To: GRRRRR

ABC7 extended their 6pm news show a half-hour, to 7pm to cover this.

IMHO, it amounted to 30 minutes of filler and speculation. They were airing all sorts of innuendo and misinformation.

There's nothing to be gained that won't be known tomorrow or Friday at the earliest


16 posted on 11/23/2005 6:41:05 PM PST by IncPen (Because it's not your money, Senator Kennedy. It's mine, and I'd like to keep it)
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To: GRRRRR

I'll bet that engineer will relive that accident the rest of his life, 1/100ths of a second at a time.


17 posted on 11/23/2005 6:41:30 PM PST by DoughtyOne (MSM: Public support for war waining. 403/3 House vote against pullout vaporizes another lie.)
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To: Chi-townChief
The eyewitnesses I saw on TV who were in Cars in front of and behind the accident all had pretty similar stories.

Traffic was jammed with shoppers and regular rush hour traffic. Drivers were following the cars in front of them without ensuring the traffic past the tracks was not stopped by a light about a 1/2 mile to mile up the road. Gates dropped, and cars were stuck on tracks. Some people abandoned their cars others did not. The train came by at 50 or so MPH, and rammed the cars stuck on the tracks. Pretty much every witness I saw was adamant that the signals were working and the gates were down, but cars had nowhere to go.

Adding to the problem is that this is not a 90 degree crossing, but almost a 45 degree crossing adding to the cars stuck on the tracks. Also, 15 cars were not hit by the train, 4 or 5 were hit and the others were a chain reaction.

It's amazing that people in the Chicago area don't remember the Fox River Grove crash that killed 7 high school students. If you don't have room for your car on the other side of the tracks, don't cross even if the gates are up.

18 posted on 11/23/2005 6:46:56 PM PST by sharkhawk (Play me a dirge matey)
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To: GRRRRR

Over 50++ years ago when I was 8 -10, I vividly remember this train crossing near The Circle, when my Dad, GrandPa and I had to cross it on foot to get to the lumber yard. This was before we had a car, and I remember going to the lumber yard with a wagon to pull home the 2x4's etc. I remember it was especially scary as the rails (4 or 5 tracks) crossed on a diagonal and made the crossing longer. Also, I remember the wagon wheels often going awry when crossing the rails.


19 posted on 11/23/2005 7:57:25 PM PST by PlanoMike
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To: sharkhawk

I thought that crash was in Cary.


20 posted on 11/23/2005 8:01:54 PM PST by proudpapa (of three.)
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