Metra expected to be back to normal Tuesday after Monday meltdown

Metra BNSF commuters had an abysmal ride home Monday afternoon after signal problems delayed rush-hour trains and caused overcrowding at Union Station, which one rider described as a "madhouse."

Metra officials do not expect the issues to affect the Tuesday morning commute.

Metra apologized for the meltdown amid gripes from passengers who posted squashed conditions at Union Station on Twitter.

Four trains were canceled and delays of up to 55 minutes were reported. The railroad also has implemented its overcrowding-prevention program.

"The conditions were a madhouse, to put it extremly lightly," BNSF rider David Keating of Aurora said. "I enter Union Station in the evenings through the Madison Street entrance, and once I got into the actual station, it was a mob scene right away.

"I walked around the station to get to street level before proceeding over to Ogilvie (Transportation Center) in order to ride out to West Chicago as an alternate, and people were riding down the escalators straight into other people, which seemed dangerous."

The signal issues also affected SouthWest Service and Heritage Corridor trains.