Metra Announces New Investments in Modernization

Lee Edwards | As of Wednesday, October 15, 2014


On Oct.9, Metra announced at its monthly board meeting at its downtown Chicago office, 547 W. Jackson Blvd., details about a $2.4 billion dollar plan to replace and modernize its fleet of rail cars and locomotives and to address key safety measures. Additionally, the plan includes funding for the installation of the Positive Train Control (PTC) system, a federal mandated program that according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) is advanced technology designed to automatically stop or slow trains before potential accidents.

“Folks may love nostalgia, but it makes a powerful statement when our oldest cars date from the Eisenhower administration,” said Metra Board Chairman Martin Oberman. “The majority of our rail cars are older than the majority of our daily commuters. While nobody ever likes fare increases, Metra’s fares are significantly lower than our peer railroads in major cities and have not kept pace with inflation. In addition, it’s time we do this right. We have to stop pretending that our costs do not go up every year, just like they do for everything else. We hope that our current and prospective riders will see this as a sound, common sense investment that will make commuting a more comfortable and enjoyable experience.”

In order to fund the $2.4 billion dollar modernization plan, Metra officials are speculating that the current state and federal funding will equate to $710 million dollars over the next 10 years to go along with Metra’s $400 million dollars. Metra stated that it would pursue additional federal and state funding, new financing strategies and alternative financing mechanisms.

“We expend a huge amount of resources – time, staff and money – on timely and extensive maintenance so that even our ‘vintage’ rolling stock is completely safe,” said Metra Director/CEO Don Orseno. “But, as the old saying goes, is this really any way to run a railroad? Safety will always remain our number one priority, but being modern and comfortable is important too – especially if we want to continue attracting riders because they want to use Metra, not just because they have to. Frankly even with the proposed increases, commuting on Metra remains a much better value for our passengers than paying for car maintenance, gas and parking.”

Metra’s rail car fleet of 146 locomotives and 837 passenger cars is the oldest among its peer railroads. The average age of its fleet in 2012 was 29.7 years, while the average age of the fleets of other large commuter railroads was only 19 years. In fact, more than 40 percent of Metra’s 837 non-electric passenger cars date from the 1980s or earlier.

Additionally, 85 locomotives in the fleet will be rebuilt during that same ten-year period, extending the life of this equipment by an estimated 25 years, at an estimated cost of $178.5 million. In 2020, it is anticipated that 52 new locomotives would be purchased for delivery from 2020-2024, at an estimated cost of $416 million.

Metra is the commuter rail agency serving Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties in the Chicago area. It is the sister agency to the Chicago Transit Authority, which provides mass transit rail (the L) and bus service to Chicago and some suburbs, and Pace, which provides bus service primarily in the suburbs. Metra serves more than 100 communities with 241 stations on 11 lines running from Chicago’s downtown.

For more information about Metra visit http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html.

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