The Ogilvie Transportation Center was deemed "safe and clear" Monday evening, more than two hours after a suspicious package led to an evacuation at the height of evening rush hour and stranded thousands of commuters.
According to Chicago police, at approximately 4:04 p.m., officers responded to the 500 block of West Madison Street for a suspicious package inside a train station.
"I saw helicopters in the sky," one witness said. "It was kind of unusual. Then I just saw all these people outside, and I figured something may have happened or someone got hurt, but then they evacuated the building from what I saw."
Bomb sniffing dogs were called in as the office building above the transportation center was evacuated, and multiple streets in the area were blocked off.
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"Police were ushering people in the other direction it seems," a witness said. "A lot of people were crowding and didn’t know what was going on."
A Chicago Police Departments spokesperson said "the area has been rendered safe and clear" at approximately 6:30 p.m., but didn't provide additional details on the incident.
Inbound and outbound train service was stopped on the Union Pacific North, Northwest and West lines, according to Metra's website.
Local
Train and bus service resumed when the all-clear was given at approximately 6:30 p.m.
