CHICAGO — Commuter rail operator Metra will make significant additions to its weekday Union Pacific Northwest schedule and minor changes to its UP North line, effective April 25.
On the Northwest line, to McHenry and Harvard, Ill., weekday trains will increase from 45 to 66 trains. The new schedule increases service for those with early shifts and reverse commutes, with the first inbound train reaching downtown at 5:32 a.m. and the first outbound train departing at 5:05 a.m. In all, six outbound trains depart before 9 a.m.
Midday service will feature more consistence schedules, with most trains arriving in Chicago at 10 minutes past the hour.
“We have said since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that Metra is committed to adjusting its schedules to meet growing ridership and our riders’ changing needs,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “We are greatly encouraged by the growth in ridership so far this year and we are happy to be welcoming returning riders and new ones to My Metra.”
The UP North line will see one additional morning train from and one more evening train to Kenosha, Wis. To accommodate long-term construction projects, two midday trains in each direction are being eliminated; the new schedule will still provide hourly service at midday.
The new UP Northwest schedule is available here; the new UP North schedule is here.
The adjustments on the two UP lines come less than a month after additional service was introduced on the BSNF line to Aurora [see “Metra to add trains on BNSF line,” Trains News Wire, March 18, 2022].
Did the UP and METRA ever get their operating contract battle settled? I have not seen anything about it in a while
Still in discovery awaiting a court date.