Category: Train Accidents

There was a fatal train accident Monday afternoon (December 28, 2015) in Hometown.

The accident happened at approximately 1:20 p.m., at a railroad crossing near 87th and Pulaski.

Two women in the car, identified as Juniel Kemp, 20, and 18-year-old Alexis Kemp, were pronounced dead by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office after being taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Four other people who were in the car were taken to local hospitals for treatment of their accident injuries.

An excerpt from the December 28, 2015 Chicago Sun-Times article titled “Metra train strikes vehicle; 2 dead, 4 injured“:

Witnesses told police the train signals went down behind the vehicle and it couldn’t get around because of the snow, according to Hometown police.

Additional details and possible updates concerning this Cook County train accident can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the Chicago Sun-Times article mentioned above, as well as the December 28 Oak Lawn Patch article titled “Updated:  Metra Train Strikes Car In Hometown, 2 Dead, 4 Hurt:  Report.”

There was a fatal pedestrian accident Wednesday evening (September 3, 2015) outside of Lemont.

According to authorities, the 17-year-old girl was walking along the Heritage Corridor Line tracks when she was hit near Boyer Street.

An excerpt from the September 3, 2015 Lemont Patch article titled “Girl, 17, Was Wearing Headphones When Struck by Train:  Sheriff“:

The teen was on the tracks near Main Street between Boyer Street and Kotlin Road, when the engineer of the Metra Heritage Corridor train spotted her and attempted to brake.

According to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the girl was apparently wearing earbuds and may not have heard the train.

The girl was identified as Alexa Turner, of Lemont Township.  The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death an accident.

This fatal train accident remains under investigation by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Additional details and possible updates concerning this accident can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the Lemont Patch article mentioned above, as well as the September 3 Daily Southtown (Chicago Tribune) article titled “Girl killed by Metra train outside Lemont.”

There was a fatal train accident involving a Metra train that struck two pedestrians late Thursday afternoon (August 7, 2014).

According to officials, the accident occurred around 4:50 p.m. on the elevated tracks near West 21st Street and South Homan Avenue.  At that time two pedestrians were fatally struck on an elevated portion of the railroad tracks by an inbound Metra train.

According to the Cook County Medical Examiners Office, the two people fatally struck Berry W. Huddleston, 57; and Margaret N. Huddleston 54.  The two were brother and sister.

At this time this fatal train accident remains under investigation and there are many questions regarding the accident and its causes.

Additional details and possible updates can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the August 8, 2014 Chicago Sun-Times Voices article titled “Autopsy:  Deaths of Pedestrians struck by BNSF train an accident” as well as the Chicago Tribune article of August 8 titled “Family:  Woman may have gone to help brother when both hit by train.”

There was a Metra train accident involving a train that hit a pedestrian on Chicago’s South Side this afternoon, June 26, 2014.

The accident happened at 4:10 p.m., near the intersection of West 90th and South Hermitage Avenue, according to Metra.  The train was on the Metra Rock Island line. 

The person, whose name, age, and gender were not reported, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition.

According to the Chicago Fire Department, fire department personnel had to lift the train using jacks in order to extricate the pedestrian.

Additional details and possible updates concerning this Chicago train accident can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the June 26, 2014 Chicago Tribune article titled “Metra train strikes pedestrian on Rock Island line” as well as the June 26 myfoxla.com article titled “Pedestrian hit by Metra train on South Side.”

Various lawsuits have been filed regarding the Monday (March 24, 2014) CTA Blue Line train derailment at O’Hare Airport, in which 32 people required hospitalization.  This train accident is discussed in the March 28, 2014 Chicago Sun-Times article titled “Driver worked well over 40 hours in week leading up to crash.”

Many questions concerning this accident remain unanswered, and the incident remains under investigation.  One issue is why the train would be able to leave the track and run up the escalator.  Luckily, no one was on the escalator at the time of the accident, perhaps because of the time of the accident.  Another issue, discussed in the Chicago Sun-Times article mentioned above, is the performance of the CTA train operator and whether the work hours were appropriate from a safety perspective.

The lawsuits that have been filed of course vary, but negligence on the part of the CTA is cited.  These lawsuits are discussed in the March 31, 2014 myfoxchicago.com article titled “6th lawsuit filed against CTA over Blue Line derailment” as well as the March 25, 2014 Chicago Tribune article titled “First lawsuits filed in CTA Blue Line derailment.”

There was a fatal train accident this morning in Chicago, Illinois, near the Norwood Park Metra station.

This train accident involved a Metra train fatally striking a teenager who was walking to Taft High School at the time of the accident.  The accident happened at approximately 6:50 a.m.

Details on the causes of the accident remain limited.

The person struck was identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Erik Lucansky, 17, of Chicago.  He died after being taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Additional details and possible updates concerning this Cook County train accident can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the March 7, 2014 NBC Chicago article titled “Teen Fatally Struck By Metra Train Near High School” as well as the March 7 DNAInfo.com article titled “Taft H.S. Student Killed by Metra Train.”

There was a Cook County train accident Tuesday morning (January 14, 2014) in Robbins, Illinois.  This accident happened when a Metra train hit a minivan that may have gone around lowered railroad gates.

The collision happened at approximately 11:10 a.m., at the Robbins Metra station near 139th and Utica.

According to police, the male driver was injured and hospitalized after this train collision.

Additional details and possible concerning this Cook County train collision can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the January 14 abc7eyewitnessnews article titled “Van struck by Rock Island Metra train near Robbins at 139th and Utica” as well as  the January 14 Chicago Tribune article titled “Metra train on move again after hitting van.”

There were two incidents involving trains hitting “bumping posts” at the Metra downtown train station today (January 6, 2014.)  In the second incident, 14 passengers were injured.

It is unknown as to what caused the incidents and if the extreme cold played any factor in the incidents.

The first train that hit a bumping post did so at approximately 6:15 a.m.  In that incident, no passengers were injured.

An excerpt regarding the second train accident, as seen in the January 6, 2014 myfoxchicago.com article titled “14 hurt after Metra train strikes Loop bumping post” :

The accident happened about 8:45 a.m. as the Rock Island District line train from Joliet reached the end of the platform at the LaSalle Street station with 175 passengers aboard. Six passengers were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, and the others refused treatment, he said.

Additional details and possible updates can be seen in a variety of media sources, including the myfoxchicago.com article mentioned above, as well as the January 6 Huffington Post article titled “Metra Train Hits Post In Chicago, Injuring 14 Commuters In Service’s Second Accident Monday.”