Metra train kills man in Lisle

Lisle police officials said a man seemed to purposely step in front of a train Wednesday morning at about 7:30 a.m. at the Lisle Metra station.

Sgt. Ron Wilke of the Lisle Police Department said the man, who seemed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, stepped off the platform and onto the first rail of the second track just seconds before the 7:26 a.m. express train from Naperville.

He said the train engineer saw the man jump onto the rail and walk across the tracks despite the loud train horn blaring. The engineer also hit the brakes of the express train, but couldn't stop in time to avoid the accident.

"The train goes about 70 mph through the station," he said. "There was no way to stop."

Metra officials said the Metra Burlington Santa Fe Train #1236 was delayed because of the incident. The train was due to arrive at Chicago's Union Station at 8:02 a.m.

Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said that express train is one of the busiest morning commute trains and wasn't scheduled to make a stop in Lisle.

Reile added trains were rerouted to different tracks to get around the situation, resulting in delays of between 10 minutes and 30 minutes throughout the system. Also, a second train was sent to the station from Chicago to pick up stranded passengers.

Wilke said the train was held up at the station for about two hours while the investigation was completed.