Freight Train Derailment Shuts Down Metra Electric Line

HARVEY, IL – Service on the Metra Electric Line will be suspended for a third day on Friday due to a Canadian Northwestern freight train derailment that occurred near the Metra station in Harvey late Wednesday night. The derailment occurred on tracks that run parallel to the Electric Line and damaged the structures that support the wires that provide power to the Electric Line, according to a news release from Metra.

Service on the Metra line will now be canceled through Friday as crews will work to repair the damage from the derailment that day. Regular weekday schedules will resume on all other Metra lines on Friday.

The derailment added additional damage to the overhead wires that had already been damaged along the line on Wednesday due to the severe cold that hit the area.

For some commuters, the Rock Island Line could be a viable option to get to work on Friday. Metra and PACE will work together to provide limited shuttle bus service during morning and evening rush hours between Richton Park and Tinley Park (80th Avenue), 147th Street (Sibley) and Midlothian and Calumet and Oak Forest.

Each bus route will connect a Metra Electric Line station with one on the Rock Island.

The CTA will also honor Metra tickets on the Red Line and the flowing bus routes: 71, 26, 28, 6, J14, 2 and 1.

PACE will also accept Metra tickets on the following routes: Route 352 Halsted (several Metra Electric stations), Route 353 River Oaks – Homewood (Riverdale Station) and Route 359 Robbins/South Kedzie (Homewood Station).

Photo via Patch archive