Metra Train Struck By Lightning
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Tuesday morning's storms caused hundreds of Metra passengers to be late, after lightning apparently struck a Union Pacific-North Line train.
Around 6:40 a.m., an engineer on UP-North train #309 saw a lightning flash, and then the locomotive shut down and wouldn't restart.
More than 400 people were on board, including Laurie Zapata, when the train came to a sudden halt.
"It just was a normal thunderstorm. No real big bang, or anything like that; just lightning, and bang, and train's dead," she said. "I'm not sure if it was the train, or if it was just the rails, but yeah you knew something close by got hit."
After about 45 minutes, they were safely taken off the train, and they crowded onto the platform of the nearby Rogers Park station.
Trains on the outbound side of the UP-North Line were delayed up to 90 minutes while another train was called in to link up with train #309, and pull it back to the railyard.
More than half a dozen inbound trains also were delayed at least 15 minutes, due to the problems on the outbound side of the tracks.
Metra officials said they have not officially determined it was lightning that caused the train to shut down, but that appears to be the case. The train was being examined to determine the extent of the damage, and ascertain if it was indeed hit by lightning.
No injuries were reported.
