Downed wires delay Metra Electric in Homewood

HOMEWOOD, Ill. (WLS) -- Inbound and outbound Metra Electric trains were delayed during the Thursday morning rush hour because of wire problems near the Homewood station.

The wire issues caused fire damage on top of a Metra electric train, officials said.

Metra trains are still delayed more than an hour, but officials said service will improve throughout the day and resume to normal by the evening rush.

The fire damage was sustained when an overhead contact wire burned and broke. The high-speed circuit breaker on the roof of the car also suffered damage. As a result, Metra was forced to operate its trains in both directions on a single track.

Outbound train No. 105 stopped at the Kensington station waiting on inbound trains to proceed. Metra didn't know how long the delay would be, so they shuttled passengers to their destinations on a pace bus.

Earlier in the morning, travel was majorly delayed in both directions in Homewood. Trains in both directions were crawling by the Homewood station at "walking speed" on one shared track as of 7:45 a.m. Stranded passengers stood on the platform at Homewood waiting for further instruction.