Woman struck and killed by Metra train in Arlington Heights

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a commuter train early Wednesday morning in Arlington Heights, officials said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was hit by outbound train #603 on Metra's UP Northwest line just before 6 a.m. near the rail crossing at North Ridge Avenue and Northwest Highway, Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile said.

It was not clear what the person was doing in the area, Reile said, but the Metra Police Department spent the morning on the scene investigating.

An autopsy is scheduled at the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Train #603, which was headed to McHenry, was the first outbound train of the day. The crash occurred just past the downtown Arlington Heights station.

The crossing at Ridge was closed for about 3½ hours but reopened at about 9:30 a.m. At least four trains - #628, #630, #632 and #636 - didn't operate during the ongoing investigation. Trains #634 and #638 were the first trains to make scheduled stops to Chicago.