UPDATE: Neither Metra nor the Cook County Coroner's Office had the man's identity as of 5:30 p.m. Friday. Patch will attempt to obtain info when their offices reopen Monday.
UPDATE: Metra still does not have the man's identity, spokesman Tom Miller said at about 9:45 a.m. Friday.
A pedestrian was killed by a train about 8 p.m. Thursday evening near the Morton Grove Metra station, according to Metra spokesperson Tom Miller.
Miller had few details and did not know the victim's identity, but Commander Paul Yaras of the Morton Grove Police Department said the victim was a male, and was walking on the tracks south of the station.
"Metra is on the scene now," he said at about 10:45 p.m. "We're still waiting to find out more from witnesses."
The witnesses are the engineer and conductor. Yaras indicated the engineer saw the man on the tracks in front of the locomotive.
"The train was stopped (after the accident), and they took all the people off the train, and they were given alternate transportation to the city," he said, adding the alternate transportation is usually by bus.
Miller, of Metra, said North Central Service Train 120, which originates in Antioch at 7:02 p.m. and stops in Lake Villa, Round Lake Beach and Grayslake and then continues express to Chicago's Union Station, hit the man. That train was scheduled to arrive at Union Station at 8:18 p.m.
Train 121, an outbound route which departs Union Station at 8:30 and was scheduled to arrive in Antioch at 10:04 p.m., was delayed 83 minutes.
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North of the station, some people walk on the tracks across the trestle as a shortcut to/from Dempster Street, which, although rational, is illegal and dangerous. On Dempster, pedestrians and bikers blow past the signals because there are no pedestrian gates. While gates are expensive, I think some police enforcement might be effective. The schedules are fairly accurate, so not a lot of wasted time would be spent waiting for a train and the offenders.
I remember once I was tempted to cross the tracks when my Metra NB train switched to the left hand side at the MG station and rested in the station. I didn't cross, because I suspected there was a good reason for that unusual move. Sudddenly, I realized why they switched to the left hand side -- it was to let a late running Amtrak go by at 79mph! Anyone who would have crossed the tracks would have been instantly pulverized. What's rarely reported is the trauma that the engineers face when they are helpless to prevent these tragedies. It would be good to revive the slogan "ALWAYS EXPECT A TRAIN."