A teenager and a woman in her 70s were killed Sunday in a crash with an outbound Metra train in Ingleside. Both were traveling as passengers when the train hit a vehicle at a crossing. Metra train 2603, scheduled to leave Chicago Union station at 10:35 a.m. was also scheduled to arrive at the Ingleside station at 12:02 p.m. The Metra train, which may have been slightly delayed, was approaching the Ingleside Metra station when the crash occurred about one mile east of the train station at the Wilson Road crossing. The driver of the vehicle was injured, and no passengers on the train reported any injuries.
A sheriff’s deputy, who was stopped facing northbound at the tracks when the collision occurred, witnessed the crash.
Lake County Sheriff’s deputies, and firefighters and paramedics from Fox Lake responded about 12:10 p.m. Sunday, December 18, 2022 to a report that a Metra train on the Milwaukee District North Line crashed with a vehicle at Wilson Road in Ingleside.
Fire command upon arrival reported one vehicle with heavy damage. The driver needed to be extricated, and was extricated by 12:22 p.m. The driver was treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital with injuries initially believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.
A passenger in the back seat of the Hyundai, a 75-year-old woman of unincorporated Antioch, was ejected from the vehicle and subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene. Another passenger in the back seat, a 13-year-old boy, was critically injured and subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver was transported to Level 1 Trauma Center Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries.
A preliminary investigation shows the driver of a Hyundai Elantra, a 70-year-old man of unincorporated Antioch was traveling southbound on Wilson Road. The crossing’s warning lights and gates lowered prior to the passing of a westbound (outbound) train crossing the roadway. The driver of the Hyundai did not slow, drove through the gate and directly in the path of the train. The train struck the driver’s side of the Hyundai.
Metra police and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team are investigating the crash. A single railroad track runs obliquely across Wilson Road, which is a two-lane roadway (one lane in each direction).
Wilson Road remained blocked south of Rollins Road, as of 4:15 p.m., with local traffic in the neighborhood being allowed as far south as Lakeview Avenue just west of Long Lake and north of the crash scene.
However, Metra announced at 2:28 p.m. that inbound and outbound trains were cleared to resume service to and from Fox Lake, after a vehicle struck crashed with train #2603 earlier.
Metra train #2603 struck the vehicle, and inbound and outbound trains were halted near Ingleside. Extensive delays are anticipated, according to Metra.
Metra Train #2607, scheduled to arrive Fox Lake at 2:12 pm, will not operate past Grayslake.
A utility pole was also damaged, and ComEd is coming out to the scene to inspect the pole.
Metra Alert MD-N – Inbound and outbound trains halted near Ingleside, train #2603 striking a vehicle. Extensive delays anticipated.
— Metra MD-N (@metraMDN) December 18, 2022
The information in this article is an early report published before any summary information was confirmed or released by police or fire authorities.
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