A 75-year-old man is “extremely fortunate” to be alive after he was struck by a Metra train Wednesday evening in north suburban Glencoe.
The pedestrian walked around downed crossing gates near the Glencoe station and was struck by Union Pacific North Line train No. 350, according to Metra officials.
The engineer saw the man walk around the gates and initiated emergency braking procedures, Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said. The train was not scheduled to stop in Glencoe, and would have been traveling about 60 mph.
The train stopped and a conductor got off and found the pedestrian, later identified as a 75-year-old Northbrook man.
He was taken to Evanston Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Reile said he most likely was just grazed by the train.
Metra police officers interviewed the man at the hospital, and he admitted walking around the downed crossing gates as he saw the train approaching.
“He’s extremely fortunate,” Reile said.
The man was cited for disobeying the crossing gates.