Nov. 06--A person was struck by a train and killed Thursday morning near Berwyn, interrupting service on Metra's busiest line for about four hours.
The person was hit about 7:45 a.m. near Stanley and Grove avenues by a nonrevenue Metra BNSF train -- -- one that doesn't carry commuters, said Metra spokesman Tom Miller. Immediately after the incident, trains were halted in both directions on all three tracks as investigators were on the scene. Service wasn't fully restored until about noon.
As service started resuming on the tracks, one by one, delays continued -- some as long as three hours -- and other rush-hour trains were canceled, according to Metra's website.
Berwyn police Chief James Ritz, speaking from the scene Thursday morning, said personnel from the Cook County medical examiner's office had arrived to investigate. Police were seeking information from witnesses and planned to review video, he said. No other information was available from police Thursday afternoon. The identity of the person and other information had not been confirmed as of late Thursday afternoon, according to the medical examiner's office.
The BNSF, which provides service to several western suburbs between Aurora and downtown Chicago, is Metra's busiest.
Thursday's incident was the second time in about three weeks that BNSF service has been shut down. In October, service was halted for several hours while authorities investigated a substance found along the tracks in Brookfield.
Miller said the number of tracks that are shut down after an incident and how long delays continue depend on the severity of the circumstances and any investigation that follows. Fatalities, like Thursday's death, typically require that all tracks be shut down, often mandated by the local police investigating the incident, he said.
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