Metra commuters stranded after train kills Hickory Hills man in Westmont
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com March 7, 2013 9:18PM
Updated: March 8, 2013 4:38PM
Thousands of Metra Railway commuters from the Naperville-Aurora area found themselves stranded or seeking alternative means of transportation Thursday night, after a Hickory Hills man was struck and killed by a train in Westmont.
The incident occurred about 5:46 p.m. at the Metra/Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway crossing on Cass Avenue, Westmont police Chief Thomas R. Mulhearn said.
DuPage County Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen identified the man as Eric Christopher Bennet, 31, of the 8700 block of Oakwood Drive in Hickory Hills.
Mulhearn said Bennet crossed the tracks and was hit by an eastbound Metra train. The pedestrian “was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:03 p.m. by medical personnel from Advocate/Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove via paramedics from the Westmont Fire Department,” he said.
Metra spokesman Tom Miller said the train was bound for Chicago from Aurora and carried its engineer and crew members but had no passengers.
All train traffic was halted in Westmont following the incident, Miller said. One track was reopened about 6:50 p.m. for westbound trains, he said.
Train traffic was delayed “at least an hour and a half in either direction,” Miller said.
Mulhearn said vehicular traffic was detoured until about 8:30 p.m. on and near Cass Avenue.
