Metra and Union Pacific's handling of the delay was a bit more effective than Metra's and Burlington Northern's, when the same thing happend on a train I was riding three years ago.An pedestrian was hit by a Metra commuter train on the Union Pacific West Line railroad tracks about 5:30 this afternoon in Geneva, according to police.
The Geneva Fire Department said the unidentified pedestrian was killed. The accident was just east of the Fox River and west of Crissey Avenue.
Train No. 41, which was due to stop in Geneva before arriving in Elburn at 5:35 p.m., remains parked with about one-third of the train on the bridge.
Many of the passengers on the westbound train walked from the accident site back to the Geneva train station, according to police. Metra was to provide transportation to those passengers going beyond the Geneva stop. Those walking back to the station used the bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the river at the south end of Island Park.
The train was checking for the Geneva stop when the engineer put it into emergency. The engine was on the bridge, but the hind end was feet-dry. After about 45 minutes, the crew asked all passengers to walk to the rear of the train. Their announcement was that ongoing passengers would be put on buses. The "bicycle and pedestrian bridge" is the lower deck of the railroad bridge, and our police escort led us to the Geneva station. Many of the passengers were going to detrain there anyway ... problem solved, although some dinners might have been late. There were no buses at the station, and some regular passengers (who had perviously experienced delay by railway trespass or by the hog-law) suggested there would be none. My contribution: if you see a westbound train, get on it. A railroad employee was alerted by a colleague that a westbound train was coming, which one did, and those people who hadn't phoned home for a ride got on it, with a delay of about 85 minutes to La Fox and Elburn passengers.
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