Madison Street entrance to Union Station closed

The Madison Street entrance to Union Station has been closed for repairs and inspection until further notice.

Metra customers who regularly use the Madison Street entrance are advised to enter and exit at Adams, Jackson, Canal or Clinton, the transit agency announced Thursday.

Also, tracks Nos. 5, 7 and 9 on the North Concourse were out of service through Thursday evening.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, a 48-year-old woman was walking toward the Madison Street exit when several pounds of concrete fell from the ceiling and struck her in the head, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. She suffered a fractured skull and was treated at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview.

“Our agency remains deeply concerned about the condition of Chicago Union Station – both as a tenant whose train operations are impacted when incidents occur and also on behalf of our 55,000 customers who travel through this station daily,” Metra Board Chairman Martin Oberman said in a statement Wednesday.

“After inspecting the location with Amtrak officials earlier today, I have made it clear that I expect Amtrak to take all available measures to secure the area immediately for the safety of passengers. Amtrak has also pledged to take appropriate steps to ensure public safety moving forward, including taking legal action against the responsible party.

“In addition, I have asked Metra staff to immediately investigate how this situation was allowed to occur so that steps can be taken to ensure that an accident like this doesn’t happen again.”