Dec. 15--Service to a branch of Metra's Electric District was restored early Monday after a drunken driver crashed a semitrailer into a support for the line's electric wires, halting all trains, authorities said.
The driver crashed into Metra property in the 7400 block of South Exchange Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, suspending service on the South Chicago branch, which runs from the 93rd Street Station to the Stony Island Station, according to police and a Metra spokesman.
Police said Bryan Davis, 40, was driving a semitrailer south on Exchange when he crashed into a pillar that supports the overheard electrical wires.
Davis, of the 8500 block of South Muskegon Avenue, was taken into custody and was cited for drunken driving and unlawful damage to a structure, said Chicago police Officer Amina Greer, a spokeswoman. Davis is due in court Jan. 15, police said.
Service to the branch, which serves the South Shore and South Chicago neighborhoods, was fully restored by 3:50 a.m., according to Metra.
Metra said crews had made "all the necessary repairs that will allow for a full service morning rush hour commute," according to an alert on its website.
While crews worked to repair the pillar, a stretch of South Exchange Avenue that runs parallel to the line was closed to traffic, police said.
