Blue Island Branch of Metra Electric Line to shut down July 7 for track work

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Blue Island Branch of the Metra Electric Line will be shut down next Saturday, July 7, while workers replace rail ties along the line.

Anyone wanting to take a train from Blue Island will have to go to the Kensington/115th Street station.

The entire updating project is expected to take six weeks, but this specific line will only be shut down Saturday, July 7.

"We understand that this will inconvenience some of our customers, but track projects like this are absolutely essential to maintaining safe and high-quality rail service," said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. "In this case, taking the branch out of service for a weekend will allow us to replace significantly more ties in a shorter period of time, thereby limiting the overall impact to our customers and making much more efficient use of our workforce."

The Blue Island Branch doesn't operate on Sundays. For more information, visit metrarail.com.