Thousands of South Shore Line passengers were delayed after one of commuter trains snagged an overhead power wire about 4 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.
South Shore trains weren't moving past the Hammond stop about 5:15 p.m. and were delayed for some time as crews worked to restore power to a train that was caught on the tracks between the East Chicago station and Cline Avenue, said Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District spokesman John Parsons.
“We apologize for the delay. We tried to restore service as quickly as we could,” he said.
Rob Acker, 41, of Lake Station, was on the train when he felt it sway.
“I thought we were going to derail and tip,” he said.
Passengers were held on the train for the next several hours as crews worked on the trains.
Service resumed just after 7 p.m., according to the NICTD website.
Three eastbound trains and two westbound trains were canceled. An eastbound 7:10 p.m. train from Chicago was able to resume the normal schedule after NICTD workers were able to fix the situation.
Railway officials are continuing to investigate and believe from initial evidence that the train was moving too quickly for a seamless transition between tracks as it tried to cross over. More thorough details about what happened are expected as the investigation continues.
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