Metra
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Template:Railroad Metra is Chicagoland's commuter rail system, serving over 200 stations on eleven lines across the Regional Transportation Authority's (RTA's) six-county service area.
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History
The RTA formed in 1974 to provide financial support from local and county governments to railroads providing commuter service between Chicago and its suburbs. In the wake of the 1980 bankruptcy and liquidation of the Rock Island Railroad, the RTA also inherited ownership and operational responsibilities of that railroad's commuter operations (known today as Metra's "Rock Island District"). RTA consolidated its railroad holdings and its financial relationships with the freight railroads into its Northeastern Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra) subsidiary in 1984.
Besides owning and operating the Rock Island District, Metra also assumed complete ownership of, or operates its own trains, over several other rail lines:
- "Milwaukee District" lines North and West, which Metra acquired from the Milwaukee Road in 1985.
- Ex-Illinois Central's "Electric" line and the ex-Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad's "Heritage" line, in 1987.
- In 1993, Metra started operating its own commuter trains along the ex-N&W (nee-Wabash) Norfolk Southern line, which Metra now calls it's "South West Service", and Canadian National's ex-WC (nee-Soo Line) line, which Metra calls its "North Central Service".
As it was originally designed, Metra contracts for commuter service with only two freight railroads:
- The Union Pacific Railroad, which operates Metra commuter trains along its three ex-C&NW lines (North, Northwest and West).
- The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which operates Metra trains along its ex-BN (nee-CB&Q) line.
There is one (and, historically speaking, was at least one other) railroad providing commuter passenger service in Chicagoland in the Metra (post-1974) era:
- The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (Indiana's version of Metra) operates the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend between Chicago's Randolph Street Station and northern Indiana, terminating in South Bend.
- The Pennsylvania Railroad (and subsequently Amtrak) operated commuter trains from Chicago's Union Station to Valparaiso, Indiana that were not subsidized by Metra, and when this line was abandoned in 1991, Metra did not acquire it.
Metra's Commuter Lines and Stations
- Union Pacific/North (UP-N)
- North Central Service (NCS)
- Milwaukee District/North (MD-N)
- Union Pacific/Northwest (UP-NW)
- Milwaukee District/West (UP-W)
- Union Pacific/West (UP-W
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF)
- Heritage Corridor (HC)
- SouthWest Service (SWS)
- Rock Island District (RI)
- Metra Electric (ME)
News
Despite the State of Illinois's current budget crisis, Metra is planning a vigorous expansion in the coming years. Some of this expansion is already being realized: the Union Pacific/West line to Geneva, Illinois is in the process of being extended to La Fox and Elburn. Metra also plans to extend the McHenry branch of the Union Pacific/Northwest into Johnsburg, and the SouthWest Service line from Orland Park to Manhattan.
Metra also plans to offer new service as well. It recently announced its intention to create a new SouthEast Service line from downtown Chicago to Crete, 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.
See Also
Regional rail Commuter railroads
External links
- Metra (http://www.metrarail.com/) official website
- Chicago Transit and Railfan (http://members.aol.com/chirailfan/index.html/) Website
References
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