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Driver cited after car struck by train in Mt. Prospect

An 82-year-old man had to be cut from a car that was struck by a freight train Tuesday afternoon near downtown Mount Prospect, authorities said.

The driver, a Mount Prospect resident, appeared uninjured but was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights to be examined, police said.

Police said he received a citation for disobeying a railroad crossing signal and traveling underneath the down railroad gates.

The crash occurred at 2:12 p.m. on the Union Pacific Northwest Line at the downtown train station. The freight train - altogether two locomotive engines and a caboose - appeared to strike the maroon Honda Accord sedan's back end.

Police said the car was traveling south on Main Street in the curb lane and was struck by the freight train that was traveling northwest on the south track.

Three Metra trains were delayed in both directions because of the crash - one of them up to an hour, according to Metra spokesman Michael Gillis. The tracks were cleared by 3:15 p.m., and commuter trains started moving again.

The curb lane of southbound Main Street was closed during the crash investigation for about two hours.

  A freight train collided with a car Tuesday near the Metra station in downtown Mount Prospect. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  A Honda sedan rests on the south side of the Union Pacific Northwest Line tracks Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of Main Street and Prospect Avenue in Mount Prospect after a collision with a freight train. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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