Metra disciplines two over door catching kid's boot

Two Metra conductors are being disciplined but will not lose their jobs after a 4-year-old boy's foot stuck in a train door while on their watch.

The incident, which took place Dec. 19, involved a Worth family on their way home from Chicago on the Southwest Service line.

The door shut on the boy's boot and the train started moving. His mother was able to pull him free, leaving the boot behind.

"The two have faced appropriate disciplinary action," Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said in an e-mail Monday.

"They are required to retrain on the second-look procedures and will be returned to service."

The agency did not provide details of what the disciplinary action was. The two employees had been suspended.

Metra conductors are required to check twice for passengers exiting or entering trains before giving an all-clear signal to the engineer.

The accident evoked memories of the 1995 case involving violinist Rachel Barton. The classical violinist was injured and eventually lost a leg after her instrument become snagged in a Metra train door and she was dragged along.

Unlike elevators, train doors don't automatically stop when something is caught in-between.