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New Concerns About Mokena Train Crossing That Malfunctioned Months Ago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Video surfacing from Friday afternoon has Metra concerned again about a Mokena train crossing that made headlines months ago.

Metra believes what happened was not a malfunction, but in an abundance of caution, Metra is looking into the matter.

Mokena Train Crossing 2
Video taken of a Mokena train crossing on Friday shows a train going through the crossing with the safety bar initially up.

The video shows a train slowly going through at the intersection and the safety bar initially up.

Metra said earlier in the day someone called in that the safety bar was down with no trains nearby.

Metra said that is not unusual. It's the result of a system safety reaction, and the video is the end of personnel inspecting the call of concern.

It's the same train crossing where pulse-pounding dash-cam video was taken on Nov. 9 when an officer was nearly hit by an oncoming train because the safety bar was not down. No on was injured. Both incidents happened on 191st St.

But Metra admitted there was a malfunction. And for more than two hours, four trains were impacted, and an engineer failed to report the issue.

That's why the most recent video was so concerning for the drive who took it.

"The arm should have been down from the point that the train was about to cross," Maureen Hagwell said.

 

 

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