OMAHA, Neb. — The slow-moving process transferring operations of three Metra commuter lines from Union Pacific to the commuter operator is projected to take place in mid-April, UP said on Monday.
Transfer of some engineering services would follow, UP said. Mechanical and station agent services, along with some management, have already been transferred.
Financial aspects of the transfer remain unsettled. The Surface Transportation Board ordered Metra and UP to mediation in summer 2024 [see “Regulators order …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 16, 2024], and the parties agreed to three extensions, the last in December [see “STB again extends mediation …,” News Wire, Dec. 12, 2024]. But UP says that mediation ended without an agreement on Jan. 31, 2025. The railroad says it has offered binding arbitration to settle the issues.
“We are proud of the work Metra and Union Pacific have accomplished to progress the transfer of services,” UP’s Liisa Stark, vice president of Public Affairs, said in a press release. “We are committed to reaching a financial agreement this year that is fair to both parties.”
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis told the Daily Herald newspaper that negotiations are continuing, but did not comment on the binding arbitration offer.
UP — which operates trains for Metra under a purchase-of-service contract — has sought for some time to end its operation of service on the UP North, Northwest, and West lines. The matter spawned a court case in 2019, which resulted in a 2023 U.S. appeals court ruling that the freight railroad did not have a common-carrier obligation to continue the operation [see “Court rules Union Pacific is not obligated …,” News Wire, July 28, 2023]. That came after UP had already announced that the transfer had begun [see “Union Pacific announces start of transition …,” News Wire, March 30, 2023].
Some management employees moved from UP to Metra early in 2023, but along with the unsettled financial issues, the transition has been slowed by issues involving the transfer of union workers from one employer to the other. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said last fall that its members had approved an agreement relating to that transfer, saying the agreement covers “vacation, flowback, and additional provisions” for the operating entity, the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp, that will take over operations [see “BLET members ratify agreement …,” News Wire, Oct. 22, 2024].
UP will continue to dispatch and maintain the three lines, one of which, the UP West, is its primary east-west main line.
No Problems, ‘We Can’t Handle It” UP has been trying to get this done since 1995. (C&NW takeover) Ever since they were told over 200 trains a day were operating on these lines daily and they said that was impossible to do.
By the time they reach an agreement, the union members who arent transferred yet, will have retired. Maybe that is the union plan? Transfer by attrition.