Metra BNSF trains not operating between Westmont, Berwyn after freight train hits semi in LaGrange

Metra BNSF trains cannot operate between Westmont and Berwyn after a freight train struck a semi.
The LaGrange Police Department said a freight train struck a semi at the La Grange Road crossing. All vehicle and pedestrian traffic in that area is cut off during the investigation and residents are being asked to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.
Metra said all BNSF trains will not operate between Westmont and Berwyn due to the crash. BSNF #1260 scheduled to arrive in Chicago is stopped at La Grange Road due to the crash.
BNSF trains will operate from Chicago to Berwyn, and from Aurora to Westmont until further notice. It was not clear how long this stoppage would last and when trains would begin moving through the impacted area again.
Metra is telling passengers to seek alternate transportation. The stoppage has the potential to greatly impact the Friday evening commute.
When the track does eventually open again, extensive delays are expected.
You can find service alerts on Metra.com.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Chicago Tribune

8 hours ago

• Chicago Tribune

Regional day passes available now for CTA, Metra and Pace

CTA, Metra and Pace riders can now purchase day passes that cover unlimited rides on all three transit systems, the agencies announced Friday. The regional day pass costs between $10 and $16 on weekdays depending on the length of the Metra trip. Weekend day passes cost $9.50. The passes are priced to cost $2.50 more than a Metra day pass while giving riders full access to rides on CTA and Pace. That means that riders who, for instance, take a CTA train to and from a Metra station could save $2.50 by using the pass, because the cost of a CTA day pass is $5.00. Passes are available for purchase in the latest version of the Ventra app. The program is a pilot that is set to last at least six months. The day pass announcement comes after state lawmakers last month failed to pass transit reform legislation — or find funding to avert a looming $771 million fiscal cliff — during their spring legislative session. Legislation introduced in Springfield last month would have overhauled the structure and governance of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees CTA, Metra and Pace, by replacing it with a new oversight body called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. The legislation, had it passed, would have given NITA broad authority to set fares and schedules and specifically called for the creation of an integrated fare system by 2030. Leanne Redden, RTA's executive director, referenced the failed governance and funding negotiations in Springfield in a statement about the day pass pilot. 'This pass is another step in our shared effort to make transit more seamless and rider-friendly across the region,' Redden said. 'To build a truly connected transit system, we need both reform and support, including increased operating funding and action on proposed legislative changes that would centralize and make fare integration easier to implement and sustain,' Redden added. The agencies could continue the pilot program permanently next year — 'depending on funding availability,' they said. The qualifier hints at the fact that the CTA, Metra and Pace are planning for the possibility of making drastic 40% service cuts next year if lawmakers don't allocate more funding in the coming months.

Condé Nast Traveler

11 hours ago

• Condé Nast Traveler

Women Who Travel Podcast: Carol Moseley Braun on a Travel-Filled Political Career

You can listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify each week. Follow this link if you're listening on Apple News. Lawyer, political pioneer, and activist Carol Moseley Braun has some career stories to tell, many of which she shares in Trailblazer, her new memoir. Lale chats with Braun, who in 1992 became the first Black woman elected to the US senate, about crossing paths with Dr. Martin King, Jr., campaigning alongside the likes of Maya Angelou and Gloria Steinem, and lessons learned from the communities she served as US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Lale Arikoglu: Hi, there. I'm Lale Arikoglu, and on today's episode of Women Who Travel, I'm talking to a lawyer, political pioneer and activist. She's Carol Moseley Braun, who in 1992 became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She served seven years as a Democrat representing Illinois. A lifelong traveler, she says becoming U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa in 1999 was a dream come true, and today she chairs the United States African Development Foundation. Ambassador Braun's memoir, which is in bookstores now, is called Trailblazer and dedicated to her grandmother. Her ancestors moved north in the Great Migration. They were farmers from Alabama and musicians from New Orleans, and now she's talking to me from her home in Chicago. How is Chicago because it is pouring with rain in New York? Carol Moseley Braun: Very nice. It's beautiful, and it's not raining or snowing, more the point. The weather is really quite lovely, and I live right across from a park, so I'm here in Madison Park and enjoying the birds flitting around and the beautiful greenery and the scenery is just gorgeous, and so it really is lovely being here. LA: You obviously have had an extraordinary career in politics. We will get all into this later, but you are in Chicago where you were born and raised. Talk a bit about how you were aware of segregation when you were growing up in Chicago. In your book you talk about how your mother had to endure that while giving birth to you in a Chicago hospital. CMB: Well, my first introduction to it was the fact that we lived in a, it was actually a transitional community in the sense it was going from all white to all Black. And so we were in the middle of that transition, and that on top of the fact that when I was born, the nuns at the hospital where mother was, had designated me as being white. And of course I'm obviously not white, and so I went with my birth certificate saying I was white until I was in the state legislature when I was finally able to get it changed. I tried to get it changed just going to the passport offices, and of course they looked at me like I had lost my mind and, yeah, that's part of my background too.

CBS News

17 hours ago

• CBS News

New pass allows unlimited access to Metra, CTA, Pace

A new pass is now available for CTA, Pace, and Metra riders. The "Regional Day Pass" is unlimited and offers single and multiple-day options on the Ventra app. This pass costs $2.50 more than the usual Metra day pass. Weekday prices include: $10 in Metra's single zone travel area ($6 for reduced fare card holders) $13.50 in Metra's two-zone travel area ($8 for reduced fare card holders) $16 in Metra's three-zone travel area ($9 for reduced fare card holders) All weekend, "Regional Day Passes" will cost $9.50.