While CTA is struggling, Metra is expanding services

[The Urban Politician]

I was never fully aware of how active Metra has been in expanding service. I always assumed that Metra was created as a commuter railroad using existing freight right-of-way lines (which is true), but I was not aware that Metra has been actively extending these lines and increasing services considerably.

Although many of us are L lovers, one cannot deny that increasing Metra service and extending its lines outward only expands downtown Chicago's gravitational pull further and further outward and draws people into the EVIL vortex of the mighty Central Area---HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (that was a wicked laugh)

Anyway, I encountered 3 press releases from the Metra website of extensions/expansions that will be completed by early next year and was taken aback. Were any you guys aware of how active Metra is? Here they are:

North Central Service:
The North Central Service [NCS] opened in 1996 making it the first new commuter rail line in the region in 70 years. The line extends 53 miles north from Chicago’s Union Station to Antioch and serves ten communities in parts of Cook and Lake counties, plus a transfer station at remote parking lot F at O’Hare International Airport. Through 2005, the NCS has consisted of five weekday inbound and five outbound trains and has served approximately 4,500 passenger trips daily.

The NCS will increase service to up to 22 trains each weekday. The additional trains will provide a better spread of service options throughout the day and early evening to better meet the increased demands in the marketplace. The expansion of service also provides a greater opportunity for Metra to capture more O’Hare Airport trips and to build upon the growing suburb-to-suburb market by partnering with select business centers to implement connecting shuttle services.

In addition to increased service, access points on the NCS are also expanded. Four new stations have been constructed at Grayslake, Schiller Park, Franklin Park and Rosemont with a fifth station, Grand/Cicero, opening later in 2006. Infrastructure improvements include the addition of a second track, crossovers, signals and other track configurations.

Service is scheduled to begin in January 2006.


Union Pacific West Service:
The Union Pacific West [UP-W] Line currently extends nearly 36 miles west from Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center to Geneva, serving communities in parts of western Cook, DuPage and Kane counties. The Union Pacific West Line service provides 59 weekday trains and serves approximately 29,000 passenger trips daily. A spread of weekend service is also available throughout the day and evening.

In January 2006 the completion of the eight mile extension of the UP-W from Geneva to Elburn will help meet the needs of the substantial residential growth along the rail corridor. The western portion of the extension includes two new stations at LaFox and Elburn, 600 new parking spaces, and a new coach yard. The new coach yard, along with additional track and signals will increase track capacity for both commuter and freight trains and provide a more efficient operation. As part of Metra’s larger capital improvement plan, Bunker Road has been extended north of Keslinger Road to provide access for the new LaFox station. The route extension will ease parking congestion at the Geneva Station where ridership is constrained due to the lack of parking.

In addition to serving its largest customer market, Chicago’s Central Business District, the UP-W rail extension will also enhance suburb-to-suburb opportunities for Kane county commuters who will benefit from “peak directional” service frequency to access employment markets along the rail line.


SouthWest Service:
The SouthWest Service [SWS] extends 29 miles from Chicago’s Union Station to 179th Street in Orland Park, serving communities in Cook County. Until expansion, the SouthWest Service has consisted of eight inbound and eight outbound trains and has served over 6,800 passenger trips a day. Due to its limited service, Pace Route 835 supplements SouthWest Service throughout the day with additional rush hour, midday and evening trips.

In January 2006, the completion of the 12-mile extension of the SWS from Orland Park to Manhattan will help meet the areas ever increasing population growth. The SWS schedule will expand significantly from today’s 16 trains to 30 trains. The additional trains will provide a better spread of service options throughout the day and early evening to better meet the changing needs in the marketplace. In addition to the recently completed Palos Heights station, new stations along the line extension will provide better and more convenient options for Will County commuters. Locations include Laraway Road in New Lenox (summer 2006) and a station in Manhattan.

Three miles of new double track have been installed and the 12-mile extension upon previously freight-only track will allow for the increase in Metra train service. Signal upgrades will enhance safety and improve operations for corridor commuters. To provide customers more flexibility and additional convenience, more than 4,000 parking spaces have been added along the line.

[spyguy]

It's also increasing sprawl. Look at Elburn. Its population has doubled because of the news that it would be the last station on the Chicago-Geneva line.

[chicagogeorge]

Yes, Metra has been aggressively looking to expand it's service areas (so has the CTA obviously, but Metra seems to operate more like a business while the CTA still runs like a buearucratic gov. financed organization). Technically, they are together known as the RTA. Hopefully, in the coming years, the CTA and Metra will be more integrated.

This 2020 Plan would be fantastic!

[chicagogeorge]

Leaders to discuss extending Metra line
Business, government officials to look at funding for $152 million project
By LARRY SANDLER
lsandler@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 21, 2004
Top local officials and business leaders will meet Wednesday to figure out how to extend Chicago's Metra commuter trains from Kenosha to Racine and Milwaukee - and how to pay for the $152 million project.
Metra Extension

Background

8/24/04: Madison, Milwaukee rail plans proceed
6/10/04: Agencies work on Metra extension deal
10/25/03: U.S. Senate OKs money for interchange, Metra line
9/30/03: Region's officials favor Metra link
8/8/03: Panel advocates Metra line extension


On The Web

Commuter rail study



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Racine Mayor Gary Becker is floating the idea of imposing a 1-cent-a-gallon gas tax in the three counties along the line. But other ideas - including state funding, a local sales tax, a regional transportation authority and privatization - also could be on the table, said several of those involved in setting up today's meeting.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has already come out against a local gas tax. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is keeping an open mind on financing options until a consensus emerges, said his chief of staff, Patrick Curley. Becker did not return a call seeking comment.

Finances aside, organizers said the meeting is intended to show the business community's support for commuter rail, to gauge elected officials' feelings and to build a consensus on how to move the plan forward.

Barrett and Walker plan to attend the closed-door breakfast summit at the University Club in Milwaukee, their top aides said. Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and Rosemary Potter, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Coalition for Transit Now, said they hoped Racine County Executive William McReynolds, Kenosha County Executive Allan Kehl, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian and Becker would be there, as well.

Bob Mariano, chief executive officer of Roundy's Inc. and chairman of the GMC's regional transportation committee, is leading the business contingent. Among those expected to attend is Fred Luber, chief executive officer of Super Steel Inc., which in recent years has won more than $50 million in contracts and added 150 workers to assemble 326 rail cars for Metra.

A Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission study committee has recommended the 33-mile commuter rail line, with seven round trips each weekday and three each Saturday, Sunday and holiday. Trains would stop in downtown Milwaukee, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, Oak Creek, the Town of Caledonia, Racine, the Town of Somers and Kenosha.

Commuter rail lines run full-sized trains on freight railroad tracks, focusing on local service between cities and suburbs. Advocates of the Metra extension say it wouldn't compete with Amtrak's Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line, which offers faster service with fewer stops.

The mayors and county executives are planning to gather in January to sign an agreement to move the project into preliminary engineering, the final study phase that is expected to cost $4.6 million and last 11/2 to 2 years.

If the plan is ultimately approved, trains could be running in time to provide an alternative for travelers seeking a way around reconstruction of I-94 in Racine and Kenosha counties, a five- or six-year project expected to start in 2009, Taylor said.

But it has already taken more than a year just to reach agreement to start preliminary engineering on the Metra extension, and business leaders hope to create more of a "sense of urgency" about the project, said Potter, a former legislator whose group backs commuter rail.

State involvement was one stumbling block. The study committee, backed by local officials, has recommended the state Department of Transportation run the line and pick up any costs not covered by federal aid and fares. State officials have balked at that idea, although they have agreed to take a major role in preliminary engineering.

Walker and John O. Norquist, then Milwaukee mayor, also tried unsuccessfully to shift $91.5 million in federal transportation aid into the Metra project and away from the Milwaukee Connector study of using guided electric buses to link downtown and nearby areas. Gov. Jim Doyle didn't agree, and transit advocates said the two projects shouldn't compete.

Curley said Barrett supports the commuter rail plan and is "encouraged that this is a project that business leaders want to see happen."

[chicagogeorge]

The Milwaukee Business Journal
December 9, 2005 print edition

Local economy needs Metra line extension
The South Side Business Club of Milwaukee has added its support for the development of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail system that will extend the Chicago-area Metra line into downtown Milwaukee.

While in the past our club has opposed light rail, this commuter train proposal is different. Unlike light rail, these commuter trains connect cities and do not run on city streets. This service will connect with and use existing Chicago Metra trains or add conventional locomotives. It will make use of existing rail lines along Lake Michigan. It will utilize existing stations in Kenosha and Milwaukee and add six other stations that can connect with local bus service or shuttle lines. It will run twice as fast as similar bus service.

It is no longer a question of whether to build the commuter line, but how much longer businesses have to wait before officials get moving on this much-needed economic development initiative.

James Gruettner, South Side Business Club, Milwaukee

[spyguy]

Don't forget the STAR line!

[chicagogeorge]

Here is the system's current service coverage.

[chicagogeorge]

Originally Posted by spyguy999

Don't forget the STAR line!

You mean this.
Oh, funds were already approved for the Star Line. 1.1 Billion, completetion date 2010


http://www.nwmc-cog.org/jahia/Jahia/...nload&fid=4080

[nomarandlee]

The new North Central Service service is intresting. It is a good idea to bump up the frequancy of trips but I think there is even more room of improvement. There are some logistical hurdles but that route is in a prime position to serve as a TRUE O'hare express train both from downtown and from the north burbs to O'Hare. Make it something akin to the proposed Grey line only make it more of an express service (I am sure it has been thought of and for some reasons found it redundant or not feesable I guess). Maybe the new Blue Line express would make it obsolete but that partly depends on how express the new blue line eventually would be.
Regardless it would be good to serve the north burbs with an express service on the north end of the line to releive congestion on 294.

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by chicagogeorge

You mean this.
Oh, funds were already approved for the Star Line. 1.1 Billion, completetion date 2010

^Are you sure about that? I think the latest Federal Transportation Bill only authorizes funding for the further "study" of the STAR Line, not its construction

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by spyguy999

It's also increasing sprawl. Look at Elburn. Its population has doubled because of the news that it would be the last station on the Chicago-Geneva line.

^There may be some truth to that.

But I'd rather see the kind of sprawl that promotes transit use and brings people into downtown Chicago without bringing more cars downtown. It's better than more highways

[pottebaum]

I really, really, really want to see the Circle Line built in the somewhat near future. Not only would it link the city together better, it'd connect it to the quickly expanding Metra service----not trying to be Captain Obvious here; I just think it's really cool.

I didn't know it was part of any '2020 Plan', though.

[chicagogeorge]

Originally Posted by The Urban Politician

^There may be some truth to that.

But I'd rather see the kind of sprawl that promotes transit use and brings people into downtown Chicago without bringing more cars downtown. It's better than more highways

I swore I saw an article that stated that the star line was a for sure thing. I'll look for it.
Here is a press release from the RTA Chairman, dated August 1st 2005
http://www.rtachicago.com/CMS200Samp...%20passage.pdf



Most of the far suburban mayors praise the Starline, which they say will ease traffic congestion, and promote more growth. I see it as a both good and bad. The good obviously more transit oriented growth in the suburbs. The bad, well, the starline will probably promote more sprawl as well.

[spyguy]

Gotta start somewhere. Maybe they'll start to see the benefits of mass transit and demand more of it.

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by chicagogeorge

I swore I saw an article that stated that the star line was a for sure thing. I'll look for it.
Here is a press release from the RTA Chairman, dated August 1st 2005
http://www.rtachicago.com/CMS200Samp...%20passage.pdf

^Yeah, it even says it in the link you posted. Funding in the recent transportation bill is only for preliminary engineering studies, not for actual construction of the STAR Line. That is for sure.

Either way, the STAR Line is a good idea. Sprawl already happened and 2/3 of Chicago area residents live outside of the city--we might as well encourage transit use.

[chicagogeorge]

This link tells me that federal funding has been allocated for preliminary engineering for FY 2005-2009 for several projects including the Starline and the Cricleline, and the Yellow line to Old Orchard. I guess, 2010 would most likely not be the completion date for the Starline, but it does seem to me that this project will get built soon enough.
http://www.bettertransit.com/documen...-LUsummary.pdf

[pottebaum]

I haven't looked into it at all, but how do they expect the Star line to work? Suburb to suburb commutes, I know, but are the employment centers in these 'burbs concentrated enough for it to be of any use?

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by pottebaum

I haven't looked into it at all, but how do they expect the Star line to work? Suburb to suburb commutes, I know, but are the employment centers in these 'burbs concentrated enough for it to be of any use?

^Probably not, but I guess the assumption is that the presence of STAR/Metra Line stations and the ongoing redevelopment of the suburban downtowns around them will attract companies to move their offices there

[lil_pc]

Originally Posted by spyguy999

It's also increasing sprawl.

Sprawl is going to happen regardless of if there is public transportation. At least METRA is helping direct the sprawl. Here in Milwaukee we have no commuter rail and our area is expanding along our freeways, and taking the people and jobs with it.

[chicagogeorge]

Originally Posted by lil_pc

Sprawl is going to happen regardless of if there is public transportation. At least METRA is helping direct the sprawl. Here in Milwaukee we have no commuter rail and our area is expanding along our freeways, and taking the people and jobs with it.

Don't worry, in 10 years we will bring Metra into downtown Milwaukee. We're already at Kenosha