CHICAGO — Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority would receive almost $2.9 billion in funding under an infrastructure plan set to be unveiled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Chicago Tribune reports. Those funds would be part of a total of $41.5 billion in a six-year plan to be introduced by Pritzker and paid for in part through […]
CHICAGO — Metra has announced a summer expansion of its Family Fares program, with up to three children ages 11 and under able to ride free with one paying adult from Memorial Day through Labor Day. “A trip on Metra is a great opportunity to spend time together as a family without having to worry […]
CHICAGO – Metra will schedule a new train during morning and evening rushes on its busy BNSF Line to address overcrowding issues that developed as a result of positive train control implementation, CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski says. Both trains will be included in a new BNSF Line schedule to be unveiled in June, […]
Metra Train No. 25 arrives at Geneva, Ill., on May 7, 2019. Union Pacific hopes to begin triple-tracking this section of main line in the spring of 2020. TRAINS: David Lassen GENEVA, Ill. — Union Pacific is aiming to begin the triple-tracking of a section of its main line through Geneva in the spring of […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Bowing to opposition from the communities of Glenview and Lake Forest, the Illinois Department of Transportation will no longer support plans for two sidings that are part of a plan to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. Patch.com reports that acting IDOT Secretary Omer Osman said in a letter, released […]
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has ordered Canadian National and Canadian Pacific to participate in board-sponsored mediation to solve their Chicago interchange dispute. The Canadian railroads have been unable to reach an agreement on how to share the costs of moving their Chicago interchange. CN aimed to move the interchange from Spaulding in Bartlett, […]
CHICAGO – Metra and other public transportation agencies are being confronted with funding needs that government cannot satisfy and more private investment is needed if these agencies are to survive, the head of Chicago’s commuter rail agency says. Norman Carlson, the chairman of Metra’s board, says that if transportation agencies like his are to be […]
A selection of the items listed for auction in June. NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – The city of Noblesville will auction 36 pieces of rolling stock from the Indiana Transportation Museum collection in June. The city has hired Ozark Mountain Railcar to dispose of these items, which were not picked up by other organizations during last year’s […]
CHICAGO — An Illinois legislator has proposed lowering fares on Metra’s Electric District, and the commuter railroad says it’s willing to discuss the proposal. The Chicago Tribune reports State Rep. Marcus Evans Jr.’s bill would make rail service more affordable for South Side residents by lowering Metra Electric trips within Chicago to rates equal to […]
A light power move of Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern locomotives departs Bensenville Yard and passes through the Franklin Park, Ill., Metra station as a transfer cut with CSX locomotives arrives off the Indiana Harbor Belt. CP and Canadian National are in a dispute over their interchange location in the Chicago area. TRAINS: David Lassen […]
ROCHELLE, Ill. — The City of Rochelle will look at the possibility of developing its own intermodal container facility to offset the loss of Union Pacific’s facility in the city, city officials tell the Rochelle News-Leader. UP announced last week it would close its Global 3 intermodal terminal in Rochelle, as well as its Canal Street […]
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform a free concert on Friday, May 3, 2019, at Chicago Union Station’s Great Hall. Bob Johnston CHICAGO—Union Station’s Great Hall reverberated with music, mostly from the middle of the 19th Century, in a free lunchtime concert performed by six Chicago Symphony Orchestra members on Friday. The ensemble played […]
