From the Chicago Sun-Times

An Amtrak train locomotive collided with a Metra commuter train Friday morning, sending a dozen people to area hospitals and snarling train travel through the evening rush hour.

Federal Railroad Administration officials were studying the tracks, signals and switches where the slow-moving trains collided, at a bend in the tracks in an underground tunnel near Chicago’s Union Station.

None of the 12 people seeking medical attention, including the Amtrak train’s engineer and a pregnant Metra rider, had life-threatening injuries, according to Marc Levison, the Chicago Fire Department’s assistant deputy fire commissioner for EMS.

Chicago fire department officials credited train passengers — about 1,500 on the Metra train and 117 on the Amtrak southbound for Carbondale — with a calm and orderly evacuation in the dark tunnel.

“The passengers who self-evacuated did a tremendous job,” Levison said. Passengers and firefighters and paramedics traversed over train tracks and large rocks in the tunnel partially lit by ambient light. Fire crews put down a fiber-optic rope to help show the way.

Those aboard the trains reported feeling a sharp jolt, then a series of bumps. Teleshia McClendon, aboard the Metra train, said she felt her car tip to the side. Looking behind her, one car “was caved in. There was a big hole.”

“We thought it was a terrorist attack,” she said.

Amtrak also was inspecting the tracks to determine what caused the collision, according to spokesman Derrick James, who would not say whether human error or a switching problem might have been a factor. Amtrak oversees switching at the West Loop train depot.

The collision at 8:15 a.m. initially backed up trains due into Union Station, said Metra spokesman Tom Miller said. Metra officials hoped train travel would resume normally in time for the evening rush hour, but the investigation into the incident led to delays into the evening.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5751233-417/two-trains-bump-at-chicagos-union-station-no-serious-injuries.html

From The Detroit News

Recently, Gov. Rick Snyder and I announced an historic investment of nearly  $200 million to expand high-speed rail service from Detroit to Chicago.

The Obama administration’s investment in this high-speed rail project will  not only provide fast, reliable and energy-efficient service for passengers, it  will open up a world of opportunity for economic and commercial development  along the corridor (“Feds provide $200M for high-speed rail in Michigan,” May  10).

Unfortunately, Randal O’Toole paints an inaccurate picture of this important  project’s benefits (“O’Toole: The great train con,” The Michigan View, May 12).

Once complete, trains will travel at 110 miles per hour over 235 miles on the  Detroit to Chicago line, cutting the total trip by 30 minutes. Construction will  support nearly 1,000 new jobs for hard-hit Michiganians. And U.S. manufacturers  will also get a boost thanks to our Buy America requirement that will put  Americans to work building state-of-the-art passenger rail cars and locomotives.

With growing congestion on the roads and gas prices at such high levels, the  people of Michigan are already choosing to take the train: Amtrak ridership  along the Detroit to Chicago corridor is up more than 15 percent since last  year. Ridership will only increase with the reduced trip-time and the  reliability that high-speed rail service provides.

I don’t need to tell the people of Detroit that Americans will always love  their cars. But people are also clamoring for other kinds of transportation  opportunities that are fast, convenient and affordable.

High-speed rail is a strategic investment that will help provide the service  that Americans want and lay the foundation for future economic growth.

Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Washington, D.C.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110602/OPINION01/106020348/Letter–High-speed-rail-is-good-for-Michigan#ixzz1OId9xGj6

From WJRT-TV ABC Channel 12

For the second time in less than three years, a water leak has damaged the Union Station Depot in Durand.

This time, the building’s fire suppression system is to blame.

The depot’s second floor board room is a soggy mess after hundreds of gallons of water poured through the ceiling. The problem started when a sprinkler head in the attic failed, tripping the fire alarm early Sunday morning. Firefighters quickly shut off the water, then turned their attention to saving historical pictures and documents.

“They were instrumental helping minimize damage by moving pictures and other valuable pieces of history that we have been trying to preserve,” said Dan Brooks.

Just below the board room is the museum gift shop. Damage there was limited to the ceiling and carpeting. “None of the cases was damaged by water at all. It all happened down the center of the gift shop,” said Mary Warner-Stone, the interim museum director.

The museum is a depository of Michigan railroad history archives. In January 2009, a burst water pipe soaked many of those documents. This time only a few books got wet. A restoration company responded to the flooding with mops and industrial strength fans.

“They felt that as quickly as they could get the water out and get the air circulating, that would minimize a mold build up,” Brooks said.

Buckets in the hallway are still catching occasional drops from the attic. There’s no dollar figure yet on the damage, but depot officials believe it will
be covered by property insurance.

“It was not nearly as bad as it could have been,” said Brooks

“It’s fixable, and we just move forward,” added Warner-Stone.

The flooding has not affected the Amtrak waiting room. Brooks said passengers were able to “come and go as the train arrived and departed.”

The gift shop and the museum remain closed, but if repairs are made as quickly as hoped, they could reopen in a week.

See more: http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=8161742