This Year, The "Polar Express" Program Vows Not To Leave Kids Crying At The Station

By Anna Deem in News on Dec 11, 2010 6:45PM

Last year, the "Polar Express" train that takes children and their parents on a ride to see Santa at a pretend North Pole in Elburn made a serious error when they left 135 kids out in the cold for an hour after a conductor mistakenly turned them away from boarding the train at the Glen Ellyn train station. Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis blamed the mistake on miscommunication at the time, explaining that the conductor was unaware that he would be running a popular theme train. Still, by the time the boarding error was discovered, most the crying children had already gone home.

Thankfully this year, both Glen Ellyn Park District and Metra officials say that parents can rest assured that last year's mistake will not be repeated again. Davis told the Chicago Tribune that changes have been made to improve communication and prevent a similar problem in Glen Ellyn or any of the train stops. "For that to just happen once...really it was just kind of a fluke," said Jeannie Robinson, recreation supervisor for the Park District, to the Tribune. "It was a mistake."

The Park District has offered the popular "Polar Express" train for close to a decade. Based on the children's book and movie, parents bring their pajama-clad children onto the train to hear the story read aloud and visit Santa. "We don't anticipate any problems with this year's trains," Davis said to the Tribune. For more information about the "Polar Express" program, visit santainchicago.com.