On Nov. 9, a Mokena police dashboard camera captured the railroad crossing gates failing to activate along the Rock Island Line at 191st Street in Mokena as Train 506 went through the crossing. Metra was aware of this incident as it happened, and secured the crossing and fixed the problem that same day. After analyzing what happened with Train 506 in the following days, Metra proposed and adopted a new operating rule that improved safety on the line.
After the video from the dashboard camera was publicized in late December, Metra took another look at the incident. That second review determined that the train shown in the dashcam video was not the first to experience a gate activation failure at that crossing on that day. Metra has taken additional steps regarding the reporting of such issues. This report outlines all of Metra’s actions to demonstrate our commitment to safety and transparency.
A brief explanation of the signal system on the Rock Island Line between Blue Island and Joliet is needed to understand what happened and understand an operational change made in response to the incident. This portion of the line has the usual signals along the tracks controlling the movement of trains, and also has a separate, redundant system that sends signals to the engineer in the cab, the railroad term for where the engineer sits to operate the train.
Nov. 9 issues and first response
On the morning of Nov. 9, the first six inbound trains through Train 410 passed through the area, which includes four grade crossings, without incident. But then the engineer on Train 412 encountered a signal along the track requiring him to stop at a location where trains don’t usually get a stop signal, just before the Mokena Front Street Station about 1.8 miles from the 191st Street crossing. Following the procedure then in place, the engineer contacted the Metra train dispatcher, received permission to go past the stop track signal and then, once past the signal, proceeded at a speed allowed by the signal in his cab.
The dispatcher then notified a signal maintainer, who began working his way along the tracks in the area in an effort to diagnose the problem with the track signal and initiate repairs. This took some time, and while he was working the three following inbound trains, 414, 416 and 506, encountered the same track signal requiring an unusual stop and followed the same procedure: contact the dispatcher, receive permission to go past the signal and proceed at a speed allowed by the signal in the cab.
At about at 8:42 a.m., as Train 506 went through the 191st Street crossing at 52 mph, the crossing gates failed to activate before the train reached the intersection. That was the incident captured by the Mokena police dashboard camera.
As required, the engineer of Train 506 stopped the train and reported the gate activation failure to the Metra train dispatcher. The dispatcher then reported the gate activation failure to the signal maintainer, who was aware of it because he was already at the scene trying to diagnose the track signal issue. The dispatcher immediately put precautions in place that prevented trains from proceeding through the intersection without first stopping and having a conductor get off the train, walk to the crossing with a red flag and clear the train through the intersection. In addition to trying to diagnose the track signal issue, the maintainer then began investigating the cause of the gate activation failure.
The cause of both the track signal issue and the gate activation failure was the same: an intermittent short in the electrical circuit that controlled the track signal and gates. It was repaired by 3:40 p.m. the same day. The gates and track circuits went through exhaustive testing before the extra protections were lifted.
After an extensive review of the incident with Train 506 on Nov. 9, Metra implemented a new operating rule on Dec. 6. In situations where engineers are given permission by dispatchers to pass a “stop” track signal, they must now proceed at restricted speed – 20 mph or less – until the train reaches the next track signal that indicates the train can proceed at the maximum authorized speed, no matter what cab signal they receive. This reduction in speed will decrease the stopping distance required for a train in the event of a grade crossing protection failure or other emergency.
Second review and response
In Metra’s second review of the incident, it found that two of the earlier trains that were cleared to proceed past the track signal also experienced gate activation failures at 191st Street. The gates did not activate for Train 412 before it entered the crossing at 49 mph at about 7:25 a.m. and the gates were lowered but then went up and down again as Train 416 went through the intersection at about 40 mph at about 8 a.m. (As evidence of the intermittent nature of the problem, the gates activated for Train 414, which went through the intersection at about 7:42 a.m., after 412 and before 416.)
Metra is reviewing the actions of its employees in regards to that day’s events and will work within its collective bargaining agreements on any corrective or disciplinary steps. Metra has since reinforced with all relevant personnel the reporting procedures following a gate activation failure. Metra reported the gate activation failure with Train 506 to the Federal Railroad Administration on Nov. 13 and has made the FRA aware of the additional information. Metra is fully cooperating with an FRA investigation of the day’s events.
While the onus is on Metra to maintain a safe railroad, we also ask you, the public, to help us when possible. Gate activation failures are rare, but they do happen. If a commuter or a citizen witnesses a grade crossing issue, they can report it by calling 911. If possible, a better reporting option is to call the number listed on a blue sign affixed to every crossing, which connects directly to dispatchers. That sign also includes the reference number for that particular crossing. Metra plans to use its communication channels to educate the public about how to report grade crossing issues.
There are 566 grade crossings in the Metra system and they operate without problems hundreds of times a day and hundreds of thousands times a year. But one failure is one too many. There is nothing more important to Metra than the safety of our customers, employees and the public – it is our highest priority, it is job one. Metra has proactively released this information to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and to describe the steps it has taken to create the safest possible railroad.