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Brighton Park
Prior to the Brighton Park junction improvements,
switch-operators used semaphore towers to signal approaching
trains to stop, then notified them when it was safe to
proceed through the busy crossing of intersecting tracks.
More than 70 trains a day proceeded to the Brighton Park
junction and stopped, sometimes waiting 10 or 15 minutes for
track clearance before they could continue their journey.
Ten Amtrak trains serving the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor
and six Metra Heritage Corridor Line trains pass through
Brighton Park daily and were also affected by the congested
system. On the weekend of July 7 and 8, 2007 a modern
remotely controlled signal system, new crossing diamonds and
other improvements were installed at Brighton Park. Now
trains can travel through the junction at up to 30 m.p.h. if
the intersection is clear of other trains, with higher
speeds anticipated for passenger trains.
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