Harvard police are investigating a "suspicious" bag recovered from an empty Metra car that delayed a Chicago-bound train 3 1/2 hours Friday night.
"It raised the suspicions in terms of the nature of the package, and with it being as close to NATO Summit, you have got to take everything seriously until we know for sure," said Harvard Police Deputy Chief Mark Krause.
Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said that Union Pacific Northwest Line train No. 662 was supposed to depart at 8:35 p.m., but was stopped as Harvard police investigated the package.
The bag was found in the middle of an empty car with no one around and the way it was sitting was very "suspicious," said Krause.
After delaying the Metra train to Chicago from northwest suburban Harvard for 3 1/2 hours Friday night, police found the bag to be nothing of concern in terms of what was in it, said Krause.
However, the nature of the bag and it source of origin is still under investigation, according to Krause.
"The response by all parties was great," he said.
Next weekend, Metra plans to implement heightened security measures and close some of its stations during the NATO Summit.
