by MetraBNSF
Today, there was a pedestrian incident on BNSF in which the first afternoon rush hour express train of the day struck and killed a pedestrian in Riverside. The accident forced Metra to implement its Union Station overcrowding prevention plan as the entire line was shut down for close to 3 hours. Once service was soon getting close to back up and running, of course, there were extensive delays and some cancellations. But what was really noteworthy was some of the track changes when trains were able to get into the station and board.
One HC train boarded from track 30.
One SWS train and one BNSF train were both assigned to track 16. SWS 829, scheduled to depart at 5:40 and BNSF 1275, scheduled to depart at 5:41pm. Needless to say, the latter was delayed.
The 5:00pm and 5:22pm Naperville express trains boarded from tracks 18 and 20. This must be a first. I don’t ever recall a Naperville express train that utilizes an 11 car set board on a track other than track 2. My reasoning for this is two 11 car sets were available and putting one on its normal track 2 would’ve backed up an already jam packed great hall even further. Once those two trains departed (presumably on a “load and go”), the 5:45 Naperville train boarded from track 2 as usual but the 5:49 Downers Grove express boarded from track 18.
It’s very rare for Amtrak to give up that many tracks to accommodate a major service disruption. For reference, during the afternoon rush, track assignments generally go as follows:
BNSF: 2-14
SWS: 10, 14-16
HC: 28 (generally, this is what I’ve seen, not sure if it’s actually consistent under normal conditions)
One HC train boarded from track 30.
One SWS train and one BNSF train were both assigned to track 16. SWS 829, scheduled to depart at 5:40 and BNSF 1275, scheduled to depart at 5:41pm. Needless to say, the latter was delayed.
The 5:00pm and 5:22pm Naperville express trains boarded from tracks 18 and 20. This must be a first. I don’t ever recall a Naperville express train that utilizes an 11 car set board on a track other than track 2. My reasoning for this is two 11 car sets were available and putting one on its normal track 2 would’ve backed up an already jam packed great hall even further. Once those two trains departed (presumably on a “load and go”), the 5:45 Naperville train boarded from track 2 as usual but the 5:49 Downers Grove express boarded from track 18.
It’s very rare for Amtrak to give up that many tracks to accommodate a major service disruption. For reference, during the afternoon rush, track assignments generally go as follows:
BNSF: 2-14
SWS: 10, 14-16
HC: 28 (generally, this is what I’ve seen, not sure if it’s actually consistent under normal conditions)