For the third consecutive day, all Metra Electric and South Shore Line trains have been cancelled. The first stoppages occurred early Wednesday morning when temperatures reaching the -20 degree range contributed to separate catenary failures on Metra’s Chicago-University Park and South Shore electrified lines [see “Electrified commuter routes stopped by Chicago-area cold” Jan. 31 News Wire.]
Then the derailment occurred Wednesday evening, further stretching Metra’s repair teams’ capabilities. It also disrupted Amtrak’s Chicago-Carbondale corridor used by the Illini, Saluki, and City of New Orleans. The southbound City was supposed to depart Thursday along with all other Amtrak long-distance trains, but CN had not yet opened the track. The first southbound train set to depart is Friday afternoon’s Carbondale-bound Illini, followed by the City of New Orleans four hours later. Passengers on today’s inbound City were bused from Homewood.
Although the CN wreck occurred south of Kensington, where South Shore line trains join Metra Electric tracks, the Indiana commuter carrier suffered other catenary failures. A website advisory at midday Friday notes, “The South Shore hopes to restore service on Saturday, February 2, but it is not a certainty at this time.” In any case, downed wires in South Bend means that if trains do begin running over the weekend, buses will substitute between Carroll Avenue in Michigan City, Ind., and South Bend Airport.
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis tells Trains News Wire that even before the derailment, the extreme cold had caused four separate catenary outages across the system, including on the South Chicago and Blue Island branches. “We need to fix everything before we start running again,” he says. “We won’t know until late Friday afternoon if we will be able to resume full or partial service on Saturday.”
