Driver killed, 3 hurt after Blue Line train strikes SUV; trains moving again

SHARE Driver killed, 3 hurt after Blue Line train strikes SUV; trains moving again
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Sun-Times file photo

Blue Line service resumed Wednesday morning after a driver was killed and three others were injured Tuesday night when a car was hit on CTA tracks near northwest suburban Rosemont.

Sara Giancola, 70, was driving a 2014 Ford SUV on westbound I-190 near Mannheim Road at 8:36 p.m. when she lost control and the vehicle rolled down an embankment, according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The SUV came to a stop partially on the CTA Blue Line tracks, where its front end was hit by a train, state police said.

Giancola was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, authorities said. She lived in northwest suburban Bartlett.

An autopsy Wednesday found she died of multiple injuries from the crash and her death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner’s office said.

The conductor of the train and two passengers – women ages 27 and 52 – were also taken to hospitals, according to state police. Their conditions were not immediately known.

CTA spokesman Brian Steele said there was no significant damage to a train.

Blue Line trains were halted at the Rosemont station until about 2:30 a.m., the CTA said.

At 10 p.m., westbound traffic on I-190 was reduced to a single lane near the scene of the crash, ISP said.

In a statement issued Wednesday, a Chicago Department of Aviation spokesperson said the department worked with the CTA to “limit delays as much as possible” for passengers traveling to O’Hare International Airport.

“Both CDA and CTA provided shuttle buses to assist in routing riders from O’Hare to the operating train station,” the department said. “As of Wednesday morning, all service between Rosemont and O’Hare on the Blue Line has resumed.”

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