Some suburban Chicago Metra passengers were left stranded Tuesday morning after switch problems left commuters scrambling to find a different way to work.
For the majority of the day, the train stop in Roselle was the first and final stop on Milwaukee District West line.
All stops west of Roselle were cut off by a switch problem, the transit agency said, leaving passengers waiting for hours.
"I was getting closer and everything, but he says they’re going back to Chicago," passenger Julius Juniel said.
From Sky 5, the issue was pretty clear. A train car blocked rail traffic in both directions, just west of the Roselle train station. Metra said an early morning switch problem was to blame.
"I’ve been waiting about two hours now," passenger Alexis Abellera said.
"Work or no work, I’m still frustrated," Annie Hollie said. "I’ve got things to do. I had plans to go to the city and take care of business and now I’m all late."
It took at least five hours for Metra to fix the issue and get the affected trains back on line.
Some passengers applauded Metra for keeping them informed under stressful circumstances.
"I gotta give credit to Metra," passenger Joe Garnett said. "They’re really keeping us posted."
By 3:22 p.m., the problems were fixed, and Metra said the evening rush hour shouldn’t be affected.
Metra didn’t release specifics on what caused the switch issues.
