CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) will hold a hearing Tuesday on Amtrak’s technical meltdown that snarled Metra commuter service in February.
The hearing will be held in room 331 of the Metcalfe Building, 77 W. Jackson Boulevard in Chicago.
Lipinski, who chairs the House Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on Rail, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, publicized the hearing on his Twitter account, saying he would question representatives from Amtrak, Metra, and freight railroads “about continued problems with delays, cancellations, schedule changes, and other issues for commuters.”
The Feb. 28 outage of Amtrak’s signaling system at Union Station was blamed on a technician who fell on a circuit board, shorting out communications equipment. [See “Senator says worker’s fall onto circuit board called Union Station signal outage,” Trains News Wire, March 2, 2019.] Lipinski has been highly critical of Amtrak’s handling of the issue, suggesting Metra should be given control of the Amtrak-owned station and its operations.
A smaller-scale signal issue last week at Union Station disrupted service on Metra’s BNSF line, its most-used route. [See “Amtrak signal problem delays Metra BNSF trains during morning commute,” Trains News Wire, April 12, 2019.]
I hope C-SPAN will be there. TRAINS staff can take the Amtrak down to CUS and walk the 6 blocks over. That is if the signals don’t malfunction again. (ouch)
Steve – Mr. Lipinski is a suburban politician, not as Chicago politician. He’s one of about three Democrat office holders in the entire nation I have any good feeling for. I spend plenty of time in his district watching trains. It’s quite nice out there.
Good God, is THIS they only picture of this guy? This one’s a disgrace! He’s not even wearing a Flag lapel pin. How can we tall if he’s a REAL patriot or not?!
I have little faith in any Chicago politician.
Just as NYC’s MTA recently took over Grand Central Terminal, so must the RTA which provides CTA, METRA commuter rail, and bus services assume ownership of Chicago Union Station to protect commuter and inter-regional mobility and economic development.
Chicago should not further tolerate Amtrak’s lack of priority and expertise to properly operate and maximize the real estate development opportunities awaiting at this vital depot.