Metra probing report of train departing with child stuck in door

Metra officials said they intend to get to the bottom of a Saturday incident where a little boy's foot was caught in the door of a train that had started moving.

The 4-year-old's mother pulled him free, leaving his boot behind. The family had taken the Southwest Service line from Chicago to Worth, officials said. They were exiting the train when the doors apparently closed on the boy's foot.

"We're extremely concerned," Metra spokeswoman Meg Reilly said, adding that the agency was investigating the situation and talking to crew members.

Metra conductors are expected to check twice for passengers before giving an all-clear signal to the engineer.

"It is always necessary, but especially at this time of year when you get a lot of people who might not regularly ride the train, who have children, packages and a lot of things to distract them," Reilly noted.

Unlike an elevator door, train doors don't stop automatically when something is stuck in them. "That's why we check," Reilly said.