(Chicago television station NBC5 posted the following story on its website on October 13.)
CHICAGO — A suspicious package on Metra’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe line Monday afternoon caused additional delays for commuters dependant on Metra.
Outbound trains from Chicago were operating 15 to 30 minutes behind schedule for a time as DuPage County police bomb squads dismantled a taped cardboard box found on the tracks near Naperville. The box was empty.
And it could be days of delays for Metra riders on the Rock Island line as officials try to figure out what caused this weekend’s derailment.
“It’s a huge inconvenience for our riders,” said Metra spokesman Dan Schnolis. “We encourage riders to leave a little bit earlier and perhaps take an earlier train.”
Metra and NTSB investigators continued looking carefully at every aspect of Sunday’s Metra accident.
“Everyone agrees it’s a miracle no one was killed in this accident on Sunday afternoon,” NBC5’s Phil Rogers said.
Work continued through the night to repair the damage, and the trains rolled nearly on schedule Monday morning at significantly reduced speeds.
Investigators say the accident did at least $5 million damage, including a $3 million locomotive which is likely a total loss.
At the time of the incident, Rogers said, the train was switched from one track to another and derailed when it hit the switch. The maximum speed for a train through the switch is 10 mph. Rogers said investigators believe this train was going much faster.
NTSB investigators say the train’s event recorder will reveal that. The data was being downloaded Monday afternoon.
Investigators also took a ride through the scene on an identical train at the same time as Sunday’s crash. They said they wanted to look at the sun and the position of the signals. They wanted to see if there would have been a distraction or something blocking the engineer’s view of the signal.
“Nothing is being ruled out,” Rogers said.
Investigators cautioned that a final ruling regarding a formal cause of the accident would likely come many weeks from now.
Five people remained hospitalized with their injuries Monday morning, and one of them was in critical condition. Most of the other injuries were minor, investigators said.
Metra Rock Island District train 519 derailed on the Rock Island line from Chicago to Joliet, at 49th Street and Federal Street, on Chicago’s south side. Approximately 300 passengers were aboard the train, which left the LaSalle Street station at 4:30 p.m., heading south toward Joliet.
The Chicago Transit Authority is honoring Metra passes for commuters who must take alternate routes.
Metra and the National Transportation Safety Board were both investigating the derailment, according to Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet. The cause of the derailment was still not known Monday morning, Pardonnet said. She did not know how long the investigation would take.
Although there was still minor debris left at the scene, all of the large wreckage and hauling equipment had been removed from the scene as of 5 a.m. Monday.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)