CHICAGO — A major BNSF Railway track maintenance project is set for this weekend, altering Metra commuter rail schedules on its most-used line from Friday evening through Monday morning.
BNSF plans to replace 17,000 ties over a nearly 15-mile stretch of track between Aurora, Ill., and Metra’s Fairview Avenue station in Downers Grove, Ill. To compress what is normally a three-week project into three days, BNSF track gangs will work 12-hour days and deploy extra equipment.
BNSF performed a similar compressed-schedule maintenance project on the route last year, replacing ties on 18 miles of the line between Aurora and Hinsdale, Ill. [See “Major BNSF track project to alter Metra schedules Oct. 26-28,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 22, 2018.]
That project “clearly demonstrated … that a condensed timetable benefits our riders by reducing the impacts of slow orders and train schedule changes to a single weekend,” Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release.
The track work will begin after 8:30 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 25, and the plan is to have all track back in service in time for the Monday morning rush hour on Monday, Oct. 28.
The tie work will occur on the southernmost track of the three-track main line, normally used by inbound Metra trains. During the work windows (From 8:30 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, and 6 p.m. Sunday through 3 a.m. Monday), inbound trains may board from the north platforms normally used by outbound trains at six stations (Route 59, Naperville, Lisle, Belmont, Downers Grove Main Street, and Fairview Avenue). Platform announcements will verify boarding locations before each train arrives.
Trains operating between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be subject to 10-minute construction delays, and the following schedule changes are planned:
— On Friday, trains 1296 and 1324 will be cancelled; train 1296s departure from Chicago will be at 9 p.m. instead of the normal 8:21 p.m.
— On Saturday, train No. 2001 will depart Chicago at 7 a.m. instead of 6:30 a.m.; train 2006 will depart Aurora at 8:40 a.m. instead of 8:20 ap.m.
— On Saturday and Sunday, train No. 2027 will depart Chicago at 11:10 p.m. instead of 10:40 p.m.
Last year, they stated the same B***S*** and I thought I could rely on it. My regular 9:40 PM departure was known to be annulled of the work but the 10:40 was still to operate with the noted delays. 10:40 came and went and the train finally left Union Station at 12:40 AM and that train took an addition 30 minutes of delays. I won’t make the mistake of trusting them this year. They shouldn’t promise what they can’t deliver.