A Metra express train slammed into five cars trapped in rush-hour traffic at an Elmwood Park crossing Wednesday night, causing a thunderous chain reaction that tore apart vehicles and left 16 people injured, three critically.
Witnesses heard a deafening metallic screech as the train pushed one car for nearly a block. That car burst into flames, and nearby motorists pulled the driver to safety. The area around the wide, diagonal railroad crossing was littered with glass, broken rearview mirrors, twisted metal and rubber hoses.
“It looked like something that happened in a movie,” said Olie Jones, who had just gotten his gray PT Cruiser across the tracks when he realized the train was coming. He watched in the rearview mirror as the car behind him was hit and flipped over. Then his car was struck in the side by another vehicle.
“I was lost for a minute. The train, when it hit, it was like a flash in my head.”
Residents and Elmwood Park officials said the crossing on Grand Avenue has long been problematic, with motorists routinely trying to squeeze across the tracks as the gates are coming down.
The train crosses four-lane Grand Avenue at an angle, making the crossing unusually long. Signs above the crossing warn motorists: “Long Crossing. Do Not Stop on Tracks.”
Witnesses said eastbound traffic was gridlocked from the traffic light all the way back across the tracks. The distance between the light and the tracks is several car lengths.
“There’s warning signs all over the place that they shouldn’t cross,” said Elmwood Park Mayor Peter Silvestri. “But if the traffic is backed up, they’ll continue to go across tracks when they shouldn’t.”
Metra officials said an express train going through this area would normally be traveling an average of 68 m.p.h.
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said the train–one locomotive and six passenger cars–left Chicago’s Union Station at 4:25 p.m. heading toward Antioch. She said the train typically carries about 500 passengers, but it wasn’t full. Three people on the train were injured.
Pardonnet said the train’s engineer is a 30-year veteran. She said that as he approached the intersection, he could tell there were cars on the tracks.
“At that point, he wouldn’t know if cars were attempting to go around the gates or if the gates were not functioning, but he put the train in emergency stop,” Pardonnet said.
She said the engineer would not be tested for drugs, because tests are not administered unless there’s a reason to believe rules were violated.
Part of the investigation will focus on whether the crossing gates and signals were working properly. Pardonnet said the engineer reported that he believed the signals were working.
“It was his opinion … that the signals were working properly,” Pardonnet said. “He could see vehicles stopping.”
Mike Stead, rail safety program administrator for the Illinois Commerce Commission, said officials had contradictory witness accounts about whether the crossing gates were functioning properly–or even if they were up or down at the time of the collision.
Stead said the signal boxes for the gates, which his agency regulates, would be inspected, perhaps as early as Thursday. But he said it’s likely the National Transportation Safety Board would handle that investigation.
Pardonnet said Wednesday night that three investigators from NTSB were on their way from Washington, DC.
Cindy Zahn, 46, who owns a hair salon about a half block west of the crossing, said Grand Avenue was “wall-to-wall people” all day.
“It’s not unusual for cars to be stuck on the tracks,” she said. “The bottom line is that there’s too much traffic on Grand Avenue and there’s nowhere for the cars to go.”
“People violate the gates constantly,” said Elmwood Park Fire Chief Michael Marino. “I see cars, kids on bikes, motorcycles, ladies with shopping bags going under the gates when a train is coming.”
Benjamin Toro, 16, of Melrose Park was in a blue Honda Element just east of the train tracks, waiting for the red light to change. He saw the crossing gate go down behind him, but he kept seeing cars coming across the tracks. He then realized cars on the crossing were trying to get out of the way.
“Then I saw the train coming. I could see the train perfectly,” he said.
Toro said the train pushed another car into the passenger side of his SUV.
“I just thought, `I hope I don’t get hurt. I hope I’m still alive after this,'” he said.
Candace Moran, 37, was in her 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck waiting for the light. Next thing she knew, other cars were smashing into the back and side of her truck.
“I had just crossed over the tracks,” Moran said. “The lights were flashing and there were cars behind me. They were trying to get out of the way. I just heard a big boom. I was able to get out of my truck. I could see the car on the side of me, somebody was climbing out.”
Andy Bonaer of Buffalo Grove was on the train and said the crash lasted about 30 seconds, rocking the train back and forth.
“I’m reading my paper and suddenly the train just started shaking, and they said we hit something,” Bonaer said. “I was scared, man, it’s not a good feeling.”
Joe Stumpfoll of Wheeling, who has been riding Metra trains for 20 years, was on his way home from his job as a machinery mechanic in Chicago.
“We heard the engine put its brakes on and we looked out the window and saw car parts and pieces from the truck we hit,” he said. “The train lurched forward. We heard the metal underneath the train flying out.”
Fifty feet away from the accident, Tony Lisonti was working at the Marathon gas station on Grand Avenue. He looked up to see a car on fire and debris flying through the air.
“I just picked up a brake pad from here in front of the station,” Lisonti said. “There were too many cars. They were stopped on the tracks–the light is red, but they didn’t stop before the railroad tracks.”
A railroad transportation expert said the diagonal design of the intersection makes it one of the most difficult railway crossings for a motorist to maneuver.
“That design doubles the complications for the driver because, if you get out there, you have to look back over your shoulder and decide how much time you have before going forward again,” said Robert Gallamore, who directs the Transportation Center at Northwestern University.
Such crossings can become particularly perilous if the volume of traffic increases and severe congestion prods motorists to stop on the tracks, Gallamore said. He said this type of crossing design generally was not meant for high-traffic areas.
“Those long, diagonal crossings can leave people sitting on the tracks if there is bumper-to-bumper traffic,” he said.
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