Metra Trains Delayed By Cold Temperatures, Frozen Switches

CHICAGO — Commuters who rely on Metra to get to where they need to go found themselves running behind on Tuesday morning after cold temperatures created switching problems for the train line, the agency said in a series of tweets.

Trains running out of Chicago Union’s Station were experiencing delays of up to 60 minutes on Tuesday due to switches being frozen. Metra’s BNSF line was affected as trains were either delayed or were not operating due to switch problems, Metra said.

One More Day Of Cold Before Temps Warm Back To 40s

“Inbound and outbound trains may be operating up to 55 minutes behind schedule,” Metra said.

Crews were working to resolve the issue, which caused two trains scheduled to leave just after 7 a.m. out of Union Station not to operate. Other trains, such as Train 1211 which was scheduled to leave at 6:25 a.m. ran express to Downers Grove before picking up all scheduled stops due to switch problems.

NBC Chicago reported that passengers aboard affected trains said that conductors were making announcements to passengers alerting them that switches were frozen. An explanation on Metra’s website citing how the agency deals with delays caused by “extreme weather” said that switch issues caused by weather can result in long delays.

“Extreme cold, snow or ice buildup "can prevent switches from closing properly, resulting in signal failures and delays,” the Metra website says. "We employ switch heaters to keep the switches clear," the post said. "However, trains often drop icy material into open switches as they rumble over them."

Temperatures on Tuesday hovered around 15 degrees, but with the wind chill, the temperature feels like 3 degrees. Temperatures are only expected to reach the low 20s before they rebound to more normal temperatures beginning on Wednesday.