METRA

'Metra' (Officially known as the 'Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation') is a Regional rail that serves the city of Chicago, Illinois, and surrounding cities, many of them Chicago suburbs. The railroad serves over 200 stations on 11 different rail lines across the Regional Transportation Authority's six-county service area (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties) providing over 80 million rides annually. Metra has been honored with several E.H. Harriman Awards for employee safety, most recently with a Bronze award in class B (line-haul railroads with between 4 and 15 million employee hours per year) for 2005. Previous Harriman Awards conferred to Metra include Gold awards for 2003 and 2004 and a Silver award for 2002.^[1]

Contents

History

Lines and stations

Extension projects

Fare Structure

Motive Power and Rolling Stock

Locomotive Fleet

Coach fleet

Metra electric fleet

Notable accidents

In popular culture

External links

References

See also

History

In 1926, the Illinois Central Railroad electrified its commuter service between downtown Chicago and the neighborhood of Hyde Park. This would later become the Metra Electric Line. Forty-eight years later, in 1974, the Regional Transportation Authority was formed after a March 1973 referendum to provide financial support from local and county governments to railroads providing commuter service between Chicago and its suburbs. Purchase of service contracts with all the railroads operating commuter service in the area were signed in 1976. In the wake of the 1980 bankruptcy and liquidation of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the RTA also inherited ownership and operational responsibilities of that railroad's commuter operations (Now Metra's Rock Island District) in 1982. The same year it also leased the Milwaukee Road's Suburban Mass Transit District lines (Now Metra's Milwaukee Districts). In 1979, the RTA purchased 27 F40PH locomotives, as well as inheriting 14 F40C locomotives, 18 E8/E9 locomotives, and two F7 units. (They would later come in possession of 45 F40PH-2 locomotives between 1979 and 1989, and 29 F40PHM-2s in 1991-1992.) The RTA Amendatory Act of 1983 created the current organization, with three management boards for Chicago area public transit: the CTA for city rapid transit and buses, Pace for suburban buses, and Metra for suburban rail. The Metra service mark, short for Metropolitan Rail, was adopted in 1984. Before then, Metra was briefly known just as the Northeast Illinois Railroad Corporation. Many Metra locomotives remained in the RTA paint scheme until the early to mid-1990s. Metra acquired the operations of the Heritage Corridor and Metra Electric Line in 1987, and the Southwest Service in 1993. In 1996 it began operating the North Central Service over the Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation, now part of the Canadian National Railway. Commuter service that had previously been operated on that line by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway ended by 1971. From 1991-1992, Metra purchased 29 F40PH-2M locomotives, and came in possession of the Milwaukee Road's F40C fleet. In the early 1990s, the E and F units were retired (The F units being sent to the Illinois Railway Museum), and in 2005, the F40Cs were replaced by new MPI MP36PH engines. Metra's other lines are still operated by the freight railroads that own the trackage. The Union Pacific Railroad operates three ex-Chicago and North Western Railway lines – the Union Pacific/North Line, Union Pacific/Northwest Line and Union Pacific/West Line. The other line, the BNSF Railway Line, is operated by BNSF. With over 60,000 daily passengers on 94 revenue trains, the BNSF line is Metra's busiest. Commuter service is also provided by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's South Shore Line to South Bend, Indiana, one of only a few remaining interurban streetcar lines in the U.S. From 1971 to 1991, Amtrak's ''Calumet'' provided commuter rail service to Valparaiso, and provides intercity service to Chicago, including frequent ''Hiawatha'' service to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, used by some commuters to Chicago.

Lines and stations

Until the 1960s, Chicago had six major intercity terminals. Three of them – Central Station, Dearborn Station and Grand Central Station – have closed. Metra still uses the other three – LaSalle Street Station, Union Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center – as well as the Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), a terminal for commuter lines that operated through Central Station.
Union Station serves all Amtrak intercity trains. It also serves Metra trains on several lines that operated into Union Station from before the 1960s:

★ Heritage Corridor (Alton Railroad)

★ BNSF Railway Line (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad)

★ Milwaukee District/West Line and Milwaukee District/North Line (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad)

★ The ex-Pennsylvania Railroad ''Calumet'' commuter service provided by Amtrak to Valparaiso, Indiana until 1991 also operated into Union Station.
Since the 1960s, other routes have been rerouted into Union Station:

★ Southwest Service (Wabash Railway), moved from Dearborn Station in 1976 by the Norfolk and Western Railway

★ North Central Service (Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway), began operations 1996, sharing trackage with the Milwaukee District/West Line south of Franklin Park
The Ogilvie Transportation Center, originally the Chicago and North Western Terminal, serves the three lines formerly operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway – the Union Pacific/North Line, Union Pacific/Northwest Line and Union Pacific/West Line.
LaSalle Street Station serves only trains of the Rock Island District, originally operated by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
Millennium Station (previously Randolph Street Station) serves the ex-Illinois Central Railroad Metra Electric Line, and the South Shore Line interurban streetcar service to South Bend, Indiana, operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District.

Extension projects

Despite the State of Illinois's current budget crisis, Metra is implementing vigorous expansion in the coming years. Some of this expansion has already been realized: the Union Pacific/West line has been extended from Geneva, Illinois through La Fox to Elburn, and the Southwest Service line has been extended from Orland Park to Manhattan.^[2] Metra is also in the process of extending the McHenry branch of the Union Pacific/Northwest into Johnsburg^[3].
Metra is also planning to create new rail services as well, namely the SouthEast Service line from downtown Chicago to Crete^[4], as well as Metra's first entirely intra-suburban commuter line, the Suburban Transit Access Route, or "STAR" Line, which would operate between Joliet and O'Hare Airport, linking together Metra lines in the western suburbs.^[5]

Fare Structure

Metra has a zone-based fare structure. The zones range from A (downtown stations and terminuses) to M. Harvard on the Union Pacific/Northwest Line is the only station located in the M zone, and no stations are located in the L zone. Fares are lowest within zones ($1.95 for a one-way regular fare ticket) and escalate as the distance between zones spreads farther apart (a one-way ticket between the A and M zones costs $7.30)^[6]. Metra sells four types of standard tickets: one-way, round-trip, 10-ride, and monthly passes. A reduced fare ticket may be purchased at half price for children from ages 7-11, students, seniors, the disabled, and military personnel, though round-trip tickets are not sold at reduced fare. Metra also sells a $5.00 weekend pass allowing for unlimited travel on weekends. A $2.00 surcharge is added to ticket fares if a passenger boards at a station with an open ticket booth and purchases a ticket on the train.^[7]

Motive Power and Rolling Stock

Locomotive Fleet

Numbers	Model	Year Built	Assigned	Disposition
100–127	F40PH	1976–1977	All diesel routes	Operating, to be rebuilt[1]
128–184	F40PH-2	1979–1989	All diesel routes, many of which are assigned to the UP lines	Operating
185–214	F40PHM-2	1991–1992	BNSF, RI, Milwaukee North, Milwaukee West, and North Central Service	Operating
401–427	MP36PH-3	2003–2004	BNSF, RI, Milwaukee North, Milwaukee West, and North Central Service	Operating
305, 308	F7	1949	All Diesel Routes	Retired
514–516, 518, 521	E8	1951–1953	All Diesel Routes	Retired
600–614	F40C	1974	Milwaukee Districts	Retired, although engines 611 and 614 remain on the property.
1–2	SW1	1939	RI	Operating
3	SW1200		Milwaukee West, Milwaukee North	Operating
4–8	SW1500		RI, Milwaukee West, Milwaukee North, ME	Operating

Coach fleet

Numbers	Type	Heritage	Year Built	Builder	Disposition
740–820	Coach	Burlington	1950–1973	Budd	Operating
7100–7121	Coach	Burlington	1977–1978	Budd	Operating
6001–6192	Coach	Metra	2002–2005	Nippon-Sharyo	Operating
7200–7382	Coach	Milwaukee	1961–1980	Budd	Operating
7400–7497	Coach	Metra	1996–1998	Amerail	Operating
8200–8283	Coach/Cab	Milwaukee	1961–1974	Budd	Operating
8200–8239	Coach/Cab	RTA	1978–1980	Budd	Operating
8400–8413	Coach/Cab	Metra	1994–1995	M-K	Operating
8414–8478	Coach/Cab	Metra	1995–1998	Amerail	Operating
8501–8608	Coach/Cab	Metra	2002–2005	Nippon-Sharyo	Operating
553	Club Car	C&NW	1949	ACF	Operating
555	Club Car	C&NW	1949	ACF	Retired
7600-7613	Coach	C&NW	1955	St. Louis	Retired
7650-7866	Coach	C&NW	1955-1970	Pullman	Retired
7867-7871	Coach	RI	1970	St. Louis	Retired
7880	Coach (Former Parlor)	C&NW	1958	Pullman	Retired
7881-7885	Coach	RI	1970	Pullman	Retired
7900-7901	Club Car (s)	C&NW	1955	St. Louis	Retired
8700-8763	Cab Cars	C&NW	1960-1968	Pullman	Retired

Metra electric fleet

Numbers	Type	Heritage	Year Bulit	Builder
1201–1226	MU Coach	Metra	2005	Nippon-Sharyo
1501–1630	MU Coach	IC	1971–1972	St. Louis
1631–1666	MU Coach	IC	1978–1979	Bombardier

Notable accidents

Metra, as all passenger rail, has a reputation for being a safe and reliable mode of transportation. However, there have been several accidents in the past that have caught regional, and sometimes national, attention:

★ At around 5:53 p.m. on August 26, 1991, Mary T. Wojtyla, 41, of Chicago, was walking with her lawyer across the tracks at the Fairview Avenue grade crossing in Downers Grove, directly in front of a westbound train which was stopped at the Metra station. Apparently distracted by ongoing divorce proceedings, she crossed the center track and was struck by a westbound Burlington Northern EMD E9 pulling a "Racetrack" express train, estimated to be traveling at 60 miles per hour. Wojtyla was killed instantly; her lawyer saw the oncoming train and was not struck.^[8] The accident delayed between 12,000 and 15,000 commuters on the Burlington Northern line for more than an hour.^[9] Trains were further delayed when Downers Grove police ordered the engineer to back up the train in order to re-enact the incident. According to an account in the ''Downers Grove Reporter'', "the engineer was so seriously affected by the re-enactment, where he had to pass by the dead body still on the tracks, he was unable to continue and had to be relieved of his duties."^[10] A railfan captured Wojtyla being stuck by the train.^[11] The video, dubbed "Traingirl", has been shown with the impact edited out at many Operation Lifesaver events, and unedited on shock site web sites and YouTube. A wrongful death lawsuit brought by Wojtyla's estate was dismissed in 1996.

★ On the morning of October 25, 1995, a Metra train hit a school bus which was stopped along the tracks at the stoplight at Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway in Fox River Grove. The accident resulted in seven deaths, multiple injuries, and a massive overhaul in safety, especially with respect to school buses and at short crossings. Millions of dollars were spent by several parties in lawsuits and safety improvements.

★ On September 17, 2005, a Metra train from Joliet to Chicago derailed about five miles from LaSalle Street Station, killing two people – Allison Walsh, 38 and Jane Cuthbert, 22 – and injuring approximately 80 others. While the investigation is still proceeding at this time the indications are that the train was traveling at excessive speed, one report stating that the train was moving at more than 60 mph over the posted speed limit of 10 mph, and this was a factor in the accident.

★ On November 23, 2005, a Metra train from Chicago to Antioch, Illinois collided with multiple cars at the Grand Avenue crossing in Elmwood Park, Illinois. The railroad tracks cross Grand Avenue at a shallow angle, therefore creating a longer-than-normal crossing. Just past the tracks on Grand Avenue (heading east) there is a traffic signal that can trap drivers disregarding the signs around the crossing warning them not to stop on the tracks. No one died at the scene, but 15 people needed to be sent to hospitals throughout Chicago. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the signals were working properly and have implied in statements to the press that fault for the accident lies with motorists who ignored warning signs and stopped across the railroad tracks.

In popular culture

Metra has made several appearances in film:

★ In the 1990 film ''Home Alone'', Kevin runs across a bridge as a Metra train pulls under it.

★ In the film ''She's Having a Baby'', the main character takes the Metra to and from work each day.

★ In the film ''U.S. Marshals'', although it's set in New York City, the train that cuts Deputy Gerard off shortly after the graveyard scene is a Metra. This is probably due to the fact that many scenes set in New York were actually filmed in Chicago.

★ In end of the film ''Weird Science'', the train that Gary speeds in front of to lose the police belongs to the Regional Transportation Authority, before it became Metra.

★ Many shots take place aboard a Metra train in the 2005 film ''Derailed''.

★ In the film ''Cheaper by the Dozen'', the character "FedEx" boards a Metra train in an attempt to run away from home.

★ In the film ''Stir of Echoes'', the main character played by Kevin Bacon works along a Metra line. He also lives in the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago, and visits a station there, though Logan Square does not actually have a Metra station.

★ In the film ''Save The Last Dance'', the main character takes a Metra train to Chicago to live with her father.

External links

★ RAILChicago

★ Metra

★ Chicago Transit & Railfan Web Site

★ MetxPix.com

★ Railfanning.org: Metra

★ Metra Maps Site

★ South Shore Pictures Partially Metra/RTA sponsored service

★ Metra Commuter Rail profile and photos

References

★ Leaders Agree to Push for Metra

★ Village board seeks Metra extension

★ Metra: Driven by its history, A modern Chicago railroad carries its past with it

★ The CTA's "Doomsday Budget"-and what it means to Metra riders

★ J. David Ingles, Metra: "Best Commuter Train", ''Trains'' July 1993
1. Railroads Set Another Employee Safety Record in 2005 Association of American Railroads (reprinted by Norfolk Southern Railroad)
2. http://metrarail.com/Press_Releases/press-release-01-06-06.html
3. http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/upnw.php
4. http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/ses.php
5. http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/star.php
6. Metra Adult Fare Schedule (effective 2006)
7. Metra-Ticket Information
8. Operation Lifesaver assembly. Lake Park High School. 1999.
9. "Train kills woman in Downers Grove", ''Chicago Tribune'', August 27, 1991, CHICAGOLAND, p. 6
10. "Pedestrian killed by speeding Metra train", ''Downers Grove Reporter'', August 28, 1991, front page.
11. girl hit by train (unedited) Unknown author

See also

★ Mass transit in Chicago

★ Pace (transit)

★ Chicago Transit Authority