A collision between two commuter trains in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

occurred during the cloudy morning rush hour on October 30, 1972, and was the worst such crash in Chicago's history.

Illinois Central Gulf The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lak ...

Train 416, made up of newly purchased

Highliner The Highliner is a bilevel electric multiple unit (EMU) railcar. The original series of railcars were built in 1971 by the St. Louis Car Company for commuter service on the Illinois Central Railroad, in south Chicago, Illinois, with an additio ...

s, overshot the 27th Street station on what is now the

Metra Electric Line The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

, and the

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asked and received permission from the train's

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

to back the train to the platform. This move was then made without the flag protection required by the railroad's rules. The train's crew had not used a flagman before, and while it was a prescribed practice, it had fallen out of use. Instead, the conductor and the engineer worked in concert to back up the train, with the curve in the track partially blocking the view. Train 416 passed the automatic block signals, which cleared express Train 720, made up of more heavily constructed single level cars, to continue at full speed on the same track. The engineer of the express train did not see the bilevel train backing up until it was too late. When the trains collided, the front car of the express train telescoped the rear car of the bilevel train, killing 45 people and injuring 332. The death toll could have been higher, but the accident occurred near

Michael Reese Hospital Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center was an American hospital located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1881, Michael Reese Hospital was a major research and teaching hospital and one of the oldest and largest ...

(which later moved) and Mercy Hospital. Later investigations showed that Train 720 likely could have seen the red light for Train 416 and avoided a collision if it was traveling slower (30 mph). It is estimated that Train 720 hit Train 416 at about 44-50 mph.

References

External links

Final accident report in full
-

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inc ...

- On ROSAP website
Collision of Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Commuter Trains: Investigation Summary and Recommendations

List of crash dead identified - Clipping from Chicago Tribune - Newspapers.com
Works cited * Railway accidents in 1972 Railway accidents and incidents in Illinois 1970s in Chicago Accidents and incidents involving Illinois Central Railroad 1972 in Illinois October 1972 in the United States {{Illinois-transport-stub