CHICAGO (AP) -- A commuter train leaving a downtown station at the end of the morning rush hour collided with a locomotive on Friday. Eighteen people were injured, none seriously.
The two Metra trains bumped when a locomotive with no cars attached backed into the path of the commuter train at a switching point at the Ogilvie Transportation Center, one of the city's main train stations.
``They bumped very gently,'' said Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Donnellan. ``It was just a slight nudge.''
The passenger train, carrying 50 people and headed for the northwestern suburb of Crystal Lake, was going 5 mph or less, according to Metra.
``There was a loud crash and coffee went flying and people were falling over, and it got dark,'' said Gerald Karr, who was on the train with his wife and daughter.
Authorities said the injuries were primarily bumps and bruises, though four people were carried from the train on stretchers, two with neck braces.
The reason for the track mix-up was not immediately known. Metra said both trains' engineers and the station dispatcher underwent drug testing and were removed from duty pending an internal investigation.
The engineer of the passenger train has three years' experience operating freight trains but is new to commuter trains and had a supervisor aboard, said Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet. She said the engineer properly hit the emergency brake when he saw the locomotive angling toward his track.
Metra has been involved in four deadly accidents in the past five weeks in which people crossing Metra tracks were struck by trains. In October, a Metra train carrying 350 people derailed, causing mostly minor injuries.
