CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. — Metra service on the Union Pacific Northwest line has been suspended today (Saturday, Feb. 24) between Crystal Lake and Harvard following a low-speed derailment this morning, WLS-TV reports.
Inbound train No. 710, which was scheduled to originate at Crystal Lake at 10 a.m., had no passengers aboard when it derailed as it entered the station.
The crane of an outside contractor is being used to re-rail the train, according to a Metra spokeswoman. Some trains may change points of origin, operate out of sequence, or be annulled as a result of the derailment; watch the Metra UP-Northwest feed on social media site X for updated information.
The line’s Saturday schedule calls for 17 trains in each direction; only 10 of those are scheduled to go as far as Harvard, the line’s terminus.
Maybe Trains Newswire should start publishing a scorecard every Monday on the week’s derailments from the previous Monday through Sunday. Data could include: railroad, location, number of cars derailed, total of people on board, fatalities/injuries, hazardous material spilled and cause (if known). And perhaps even a continuing graph of: 1) weekly number of derailments and 2) total of cars derailed that week. And, finally, a “NoCrash” award each month to every Class 1 road with no derailments that month.
When I mention fatalities, this would be only those on the derailed train, not vehicle drivers or passengers in a crossing incident.