Train service resumes at Ogilvie after police investigate suspicious luggage

Train service was resuming at Ogilvie Transportation Center Wednesday afternoon after Chicago Police Bomb Unit investigators were called about unattended luggage near the tracks at the West Loop train station.

CPD 1st District Cmdr. Michael Pigott said the incident started when a man put the two items down near a ticket agent, then said something to a custodian. That person then told her supervisor.

X-rays showed a “cell phone and some other stuff,” Pigott said. The fire department later said the items inside the luggage “turned out to pose no threat.”

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The luggage was found on the platform level shortly before 10 a.m. at the station at 500 W. Madison, according to Metra spokesman Tom Miller. Trains were not allowed to enter or depart from the station while authorities investigated, but service resumed with delays shortly after 12:15 p.m.

Police officers and Bomb Unit members were called to the station to assist Metra police with the investigation, according to Chicago Police.

Parts of the station were evacuated, according to Miller.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt said CFD crews were called to the station for a hazardous materials response.

Authorities began to let employees back into the building about 12:30 p.m.

Hundreds of evacuees gathered on the south side of Madison across the street from Ogilvie as law enforcement investigated, snapping photos on their phones. Several dozen police and fire responders could be seen in and around the station’s lobby.

More than a dozen emergency response vehicles clogged Madison between Canal and Clinton.

Police diverted westbound traffic on Madison to northbound Franklin. Madison was moving freely at Desplaines as of noon.