Metra’s SD70MACHs working well, chief operating officer says

CHICAGO — Metra is having “great luck” with its fleet of SD70MACH locomotives, Chief Operating Officer Kevin McCann told the Sandhouse Rail Group today (Wednesday, March 12, 2025).

McCann and Chief Engineering Officer Scott Schiemann updated those attending the Northwestern University Transportation Center event at Metra headquarters on a wide variety of projects and initiatives during an annual session shared with Northern Indiana Commuter Rail District President/General Manager Mike Noland. Along with the locomotive update, McCann touched on other equipment on order and related projects, while Schiemann addressed infrastructure work, including Metra’s ongoing efforts to address aging bridges on its system.

Twenty-one of the remanufactured Progress Rail/EMD freight locomotives, outfitted with head-end power capabilities, are now on hand, McCann said, and Metra has exercised twice exercised options for nine additional locomotives. “It was a huge transition for Metra going from DC technology to AC technology,” he said. “… Even though they’re bigger, they’re more fuel efficient than our older F40s. So it was a great fit for us. They are Tier 3 (emission-standard compliant), and we really feel like we got our bang for our buck as far as emissions goes on those locomotives.”

McCann said the first of the new Alstom multilevel railcars, part of a base order of 200, are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, with production models beginning to arrive in early 2027. “These are nothing like our gallery cars,” he said, referring to the bilevels that have been the standard on Metra’s diesel-hauled lines since the agency’s inception. “The side loading doors are double — there’s two on each side. They’re airbag suspension. The technology is just phenomenal … we’re very excited to see those arrive.”

Delivery is expected in late 2027 for Metra’s first dip into battery-electric multiple unit trainsets, eight trains from Stadler. That equipment has often been associated with use on the Rock Island District’s Beverly Branch, a relatively short run distinguished by its frequent station stops. And while McCann said that “makes sense,” he also mentioned the North Central service — the mostly Canadian National route to Antioch, Ill., as a possibility.

“I’m not going to commit to any particular area,” he said. “… There won’t be a catenary, but there will be a high-rate charging station. So there’s infrastructure that has to be considered as well. And we’ll look at that and see where it makes the most sense with the first sets that we get, and then we’ll go from there. … We’ve identified several areas where we would put them. And then additionally there could be new service that we’re looking at … possibility out to the airport and things like that.”

Among other points addressed by McCann:

— Preliminary engineering of the signal system for Metra’s launch of service to Rockford is complete, and preliminary engineering of the civil design about 10% complete, he said. Still being negotiated are final design and construction agreements between Metra and the Illinois Department of Transportation, as well as an operating agreement. “This is a new-start project,” McCann said, “so Metra is working with IDOT to complete the FRA’s new-start requirements to expand service.” IDOT announced that it had selected Metra to operate the Rockford service, which will use the Milwaukee West line to reach UP’s Rockford Branch, in 2023 [see “Ilinois chooses Metra …,” Trains News Wire, July 6, 2023]. At that time, service was projected to begin in late 2027].

— A project to replace outdated message signs on station platforms with new digital displays — which show multiple upcoming trains rather than just announcing the next train’s arrival — has the new digital boards up at 105 stations, with the goal of equipping all 243 stations by mid-2026. Those 105 stations have received 276 of the displays. “The size and number of these digital displays depends on the station, how many exits, how long the platforms are, and other structural considerations,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of positive feedback on those.”

— Metra’s steadily expanding bike program saw the agency carry 338,000 bikes in 2024, a 26% increase over the pre-COVID high. “We feel we’ve stepped up to the plate on this one,” he said. “In 2015, we started installing bicycle racks on our cars. We’ve installed them on 110 cars and we plan on doing 90 more this year, so that will be a total of 200 cars in what we’re calling our phase one.” Metra will examine the data from the operation of those cars before continuing the expansion: “We’ll have a phase two, and if it’s called for, we’ll expand the program even further.” That 200-car count does not include the 10 special bike cars in which seating has been removed to accommodate up to 18 bicycles, he said.

Stations, bridge remain an infrastructure focus

Schiemann, who joined Metra from the Belt Railway of Chicago about a year ago, updated two ongoing infrastructure efforts — new and upgraded stations, and the effort to replace century-old bridges.

Most of the stations have been on the Electric District, although the Peterson/Ridge station on the UP North line opened last May. Recent openings on the Electric line include the 103rd Street/Rossmoor, 79th Street/Chatham, and Homewood stations.

“If you get a chance, I would recommend going out to these stations,” Schiemann said, “They’re beautiful. And it’s not just what you see in the picture. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes to do these, and especially on the electric lines.” They are a particular challenge, he said, because of the need to deenergize the catenary at the project sites daily.

Bridges, meanwhile, have been a focal point in Metra’s capital planning for several years, and the issue is significant enough that the agency is considering borrowing to help fund some projects [see “Metra considers financing …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 23, 2025]. Metra owns 446 bridges and systemwide operates over more than 900.

“What we’re doing is systemically looking at our bridges and saying, what’s our worst bridge?” Schiemman said. “… The current plan is to seek 10 bridges a year for replacement. … That’s going to take you 40 years just to cycle through the Metra-owned [bridges]. Forty years from now, we’re have bridges that are in the magnitude of 150 to 200 years old, because part of our system was elevated in the late 1800s. So you see the monumental tasks that are we have ahead of us.”

Another aging structure, Metra’s 16th Street Tower at the junction of its Rock Island line and the Canadian National, is in its final days, he said. “If you’ve been in there, you know it needs some TLC,” he said. Operations currently handed at the tower will be handled remotely from Metra’s Central Control Facility by the end of this month. But the building will not just be torn down when it is removed from service, he said.

“We’re working with the state historic preservation so that the inside of the tower, the old mechanisms and all that … get donated to a museum and get displayed somewhere. So just so if any of you thought we were just going to demo it and throw it away, that’s not going to happen. We’ve already applied for this permitting with the state so that we’ll take all the machinery and anything with any nostalgic memorabilia and then it’ll get displayed somewhere.

“But as far as functional, that tower will be obsolete in a couple of weeks.”

— More from the Sandhouse Rail Group meeting on Metra is available here; South Shore coverage is here.