A series of computer glitches Wednesday night at Union Station caused delays of up to 90 minutes for rush hour commuters headed west and southwest.
Twenty-two Metra trains, most of them bound for Aurora, Joliet and Orland Park, were delayed after computers that control signals went down briefly at 5:30 and again at about 6 p.m., said Metra spokesman Frank Malone. The problem was fixed and trains were moving out of the station by 7 p.m., he said.
Metra officials estimated the delays affected about 15,000 to 16,000 passengers. “It was bad in terms of the number of people affected,” Malone said. “We’re extremely sorry about the inconvenience our customers experienced.”
Malone said Amtrak controls the signal equipment at the station, but Amtrak officials were not available for comment on the computer problems.
