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Extreme cold causes morning delays on Metra, CTA trains due to cracked rails

Extreme cold causes train trouble for Metra and CTA during morning commute
Extreme cold causes train trouble for Metra and CTA during morning commute 02:09

CHICAGO (CBS) — Thursday's extreme cold impacted the morning commute for many people in the Chicago area, as trains on five Metra lines and one CTA line came to a temporary halt because of breaks or cracks in the rails.

CBS News Chicago spoke to experts and listened to commuters to see how they deal with the delays when the temperature plummets.

Lisa Baum heard the reports of the issues on Metra, and prepared for delays for her commute from Fox Lake to downtown Chicago.

"They said that they might be delayed, and I still wanted to be here on time, just in case. I don't want to have to miss it and have to wait two more hours. Got to be prepared in the winter in Chicagoland," she said.

As a lifelong Metra commuter, George Seyk said he knows the drill when it comes to delays.

"Number one, you can catch an earlier train and try to mitigate the delay. Number two, if your train is delayed, you take the next one. And that's just what you're dealing with. It's Chicago. It's December. And you're going to expect the cold weather. The cold weather is going to affect the equipment," he said.

That's what happened on five of Metra's 11 commuter lines Thursday morning, with the extreme cold causing cracked rails and switching issues.

"One is kind of a pull-apart, where the joint between the rails kind of separates, and you have a gap between there; or you have just kind of a tiny minute crack in the steel, enough to disrupt the track circuit. And what the track circuit is, it controls all the signals," sai Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said.

Extreme cold causes track issues, delays morning trains for Metra and CTA 02:08

Gillis said Metra issues service advisories to notify commuters as soon as possible when trains are delayed.

"Unfortunately, a lot of this happened in the moment of the rush hour, and there were trains with people on them that were caught up in this, and we apologize for that. It's just a function of Chicago weather," Gillis said.

Metra inspects their tracks twice each week. So what's the solution for switch problems? Gas burners are placed near switches so crews can ignite flames to warm them when needed throughout the system.  But what causes steel to crack and break?

"Steel that's used in rails has a phenomenon which can cause it to become very brittle when the temperatures are below a certain temperature," said professor Sammy Tin, head of material science and engineering at University of Arizona. "Changes in temperature also result in thermal expansion and contraction events that can also result in cracking of the rails. So it might just be, you know, a longevity of the material."

Service on the CTA Brown Line also was temporarily suspended Thursday morning between Kimball and Southport this morning, because of a cracked rail due to the extreme temperatures.

"When temperatures fall below 10 degrees, you get surprises. Electrical systems don't work. You could have rails that contract," said DePaul University professor and transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman.

The mix of much colder temperatures and an aging rail system can lead to rail breaks and switch freezes, and Schwieterman said the solution lies in modernizing the system.

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