A pedestrian was killed Friday morning after being struck by a Metra train near the Forest Glen station on Chicago's Northwest Side, halting rail traffic for roughly two hours during the height of the morning commute. The crash happened around 8 a.m. near the 5300 block of North Forest Glen Avenue, involving outbound Metra train No. 2107, which had departed downtown at 7:32 a.m.
Metra officials confirmed the crash occurred on the city's Northwest Side, according to WGN-TV. Authorities have not identified the victim, and officials have not released details on what led up to the crash, per the station's report. Metra trains were back in motion by 9:30 a.m., though the incident caused brief disruptions for riders on the line.
A Second Fatal Strike Near Edgebrook This Year
Friday's death is the second fatal Metra pedestrian strike in the immediate Edgebrook and Forest Glen area in 2026 alone. Hoodline previously reported on a fatal strike near Edgebrook on March 2, when Milwaukee District North train No. 2140 fatally struck a pedestrian, halting train movement in both directions, according to Patch. That followed an October 2025 incident in which an Amtrak train traveling from Wisconsin to Chicago fatally struck a man and a dog near the same Edgebrook Metra station along Devon Avenue, as reported by Nadig Newspapers.
Forest Glen and Edgebrook sit as adjacent stops on Metra's Milwaukee District North line, a 49.7-mile route connecting Chicago Union Station to Fox Lake across 22 stations, according to Wikipedia. The corridor is notably busy, with state rail safety experts reporting that the Edgebrook rail segment sees approximately 90 daily train passages across commuter, passenger and freight traffic, amounting to roughly 25,000 crossings a year, per CBS Chicago.
Illinois Ranks Among Worst States for Rail Trespassing Deaths
The fatality also lands amid troubling statewide and national trends. Preliminary Federal Railroad Administration statistics for 2025 show Illinois ranked third in the nation for railroad trespassing fatalities, recording 44 deaths and 24 injuries along rights-of-way, according to Metro Magazine. Nationwide, Federal Railroad Administration data for 2025 logged 1,317 total pedestrian rail trespass casualties, including 792 fatalities and 525 injuries, per Operation Lifesaver.
In response to the ongoing toll, Metra announced a plan in February 2026 to conduct 41 safety blitzes across commuter rail stations throughout the year, distributing educational materials on track and grade-crossing hazards, Metro Magazine reported. Metra's own performance data recorded six federally reportable safety incidents in June 2026 and six in March 2026, while transit police conducted more than 4,900 station checks each month, according to Metra.
Why Track Shutdowns Cause Cascading Delays
Standard Metra safety procedures require complete track shutdowns in both directions during pedestrian collision investigations, which frequently causes cascading delays across multiple rail lines feeding into Chicago Union Station, Hoodline has previously explained after a Union Station strike. Police and rail officials must inspect tracks and signals before trains can resume normal speeds, which is why Friday's closure stretched roughly two hours before service resumed.
Friday's death is at least the third fatal Metra pedestrian strike reported across the region in recent months, following incidents near Galewood in July and in Palatine on the Union Pacific Northwest line later that same month. As of Friday, authorities had not identified the victim, and the circumstances leading up to the crash remained unclear.
