A collision involving a Union Pacific Northwest Metra train and a red sedan in Barrington on Friday sent one person to a hospital and disrupted outbound service. The crash occurred near Northwest Highway and Park Lane, where Train No. 623 stopped while traveling toward Harvard, according to ABC7 Chicago.
ABC7 Chicago reported that the Barrington Fire Department described the person's injuries as non-life-threatening and said the person was taken to a local hospital. The outlet also reported that a fence near the tracks was damaged and that the cause of the collision had not been established.
Metra's UP-NW service experienced extensive delays after the outbound collision, according to the report. The disruption followed the train's stop in Barrington as crews responded to the crash scene.
The Barrington Corridor
The crash happened in a stretch of Barrington near Northwest Highway and Park Lane.
The crash scene involved the tracks and nearby roadway, where the damaged car and fence were observed.
Who Actually Runs the UP-NW Line
Metra took over direct operating responsibility for the Union Pacific Northwest Line in May 2025, assuming daily train crews and operations from Union Pacific Railroad, per Wikipedia. Previously, Union Pacific had run the service itself under a purchase-of-service agreement.
The UP-NW Line is a Metra commuter route. The crash illustrates how a single crossing incident can disrupt the broader commute.
Statewide crossing context
The Barrington crash occurred on the UP-NW corridor at a railroad crossing.
That local incident also raises a broader question about how often collisions occur at Illinois highway-rail crossings.
The crash occurred at a railroad crossing.
Historical statewide data
Illinois state records provide historical context, although the figures below do not establish a current statewide trend.
What the historical data show
The Illinois Commerce Commission reported 153 collisions at public crossings in Illinois in 2004. Its preliminary statistics recorded 130 collisions at public crossings in 2007, a 14% decrease from 2006. Those figures provide historical statewide context for the Barrington crash, but they do not by themselves describe conditions in recent years.
A video showed the crossing gates down, with warning lights and bells activated. For now, Metra riders on the UP-NW line are left navigating extensive delays while crews clear the wreckage and repair the damaged fencing near the tracks.
