Metra
I went into work during the first major snowstorm of the year and that’s what prompted this entry.
This was one of the main reasons I wanted to take Metra …. Driving to work in bad weather is not fun. Only having to go two miles to the local station is much much nicer. The fact that I can park in a parking garage where my car is mostly sheltered from the elements is great too. So long as you don’t arrive immediately before a train would come (dealing with all the people speeding through the garage trying to find a parking spot and make it to their train on time) or leave right after a train arrives (dealing with all the people that have to get out of the garage RIGHT NOW I just sit and listen to the radio for a few minutes until the group is gone) it’s not bad.
Ideally I’d like the 699 Pace bus route to stop closer to my complex so I could take that in the morning and not have to drive at all. A ride on Pace that links to Metra is cheap not to mention I wouldn’t have to pay for fuel or put wear and tear on my car. The stop by me is across Dundee road and farther in which is not a bad walk however it’s not the safest of places. If there was a stop either on our road out or directly on Dundee road I’d seriously consider taking it. I wrote a comment to Pace about that but haven’t heard anything.
Aside from that I prefer taking Metra to driving for 45+ minutes. My commute does not vary unexpectedly I need only be concerned with getting to the station with enough time to spare. The best part is at the time that I get there two metra trains come within five minutes of another. One running express and the other running local. One gets me there fairly early and the other gets me there with just enough time to make it in. Definitely makes me more relaxed about getting there.
One funny observation about Metra . . . When you commute by car and you have to drive during rush hour your commute takes longer due to the amount of people on the road. Commuting by Metra during rush hour doesn’t take as long because they make sure they have express trains (trains that do not stop at every single station) running during those times.
Back to why I’m writing this . . . The trains on Friday were running behind by about 15 min due to some motorist in (I think) Arlington Heights being stuck on the tracks during the snowstorm. They made an announcement saying the express trains may come before a local but they didn’t say if they knew for sure. We were in a situation where we didn’t know what side of the tracks the train would be on.
All of a sudden we hear the dinging of the bells alerting us that a train was approaching. Everyone looks and it’s headed for us on the center track.
This is a problem if you’re desperate to catch the train because the doors do not open on the side where the station and parking garage is…. There’s a center platform on the other side and that’s where the side the doors open for express trains bound for Chicago.
When I saw the train coming I was in the heated passenger shelter in front of the garage and decided to just let it come and if they can open the doors on the other side then I’d get on otherwise I’d just wait for the next train. Other people took off in a run to make it across the tracks.
This is not a good idea particularly during a winter snowstorm.
As one lady was crossing she slipped and fell flat on her face. As she was struggling to get up it became clear the train coming was an express to run PAST Palatine not one that would stop at it. The train whizzed past at a pretty good clip.
She had fallen on the track next to the express track not on the track the train was coming. Had she gotten a few feet farther before slipping she would’ve been killed.
After that we all crossed the track. Everyone figured our next train would run express. 10 minutes later the train came. There were people who just walked down from the parking garage and were running across the tracks as the train approached.
The last one was an older gentleman who walked across the tracks slowly. Several people yelled, “do you not see the train???” at which point he ran. If he had continued at the pace he was going he would’ve been hit.
A couple days prior to this a lady in Norwood Park was crossing the tracks and was hit by a southbound train.
Is it worth risking death to catch a train? I don’t think so.
C’mon people, its common sense. You cannot stop a huge speeding train on a dime much less several hundred feet. It is not a small car. There is no way a conductor can stop for you by the time he sees you! If the lights are flashing and the gates are down get out of the way! There’s always another train!
I do wish however that Metra had been able to put the announcement PA system to better use. They weren’t able to say with certainty when the next trains would arrive, if they’d be express or local or which trains would stop at this station. Why is that?
Since there was confusion due to the delays I think it would have been helpful if they were able to have jumped on the PA to say simply something like “A train is approaching on the center tracks however it is not going to stop here. Please do not cross the tracks when the signals are on. Thank you”. Then five minutes before the train that would stop at Palatine was to arrive make another announcement so people could get on the correct platform
Seems like a good idea to me. Communication is key and knowledge is power.
Metra