The Metra train is a primary mode of transportation for Chicagoland residents commuting to and from the city and the amount of delays regarding freight trains has been an ongoing issue that is being addressed.
At a Metra State of Operations meeting conducted by the Metra Board of Directors, Chief Operating Officer Bruce M. Marcheschi presented the findings of the 2019 Metra on time performance.
In one bar graph at the meeting included the amount of freight train delays by line for the year of 2019. The graph concluded how there is a disparity between how certain train lines have much more delays over others.
For example, the Union Pacific West received the most amount of freight train delays at
261 delays in that year. Meanwhile, the North Central Service received only 47 delays.
For the Union Pacific West, 171 of those delays were a result of freight train interference while 62 of those delays for 2019 were of freight accidents and 28 of the delays were part of the freight mechanical malfunction.
Joseph P. Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor in the School for Public Service has published a various number of books related to the development of cities and transportation provides an explanation on these disparities on the amount of freight train delays.
According to Schwieterman, all of the commuter railroads operate on historic freight routes. Metra bought several of the railroads and has more control over those routes. "Metra has more control over those routes. The one route in which freight and passenger are completely separate is the Metra Electric where there are no freights at all on that route since they are parallel tracks," Schwieterman said.
The second Metra train line that experienced the most amount of freight train related delays in 2019 is the Milwaukee North District and the Southwest Service line.
Metra spokesperson Meg Reiley states how Metra operates on the Chicago Protocol, a binding agreement of the rules and regulations public transportation must do in order to keep passengers safe.
"We operate on the Chicago Protocol. Freight trains do not operate on commuter lines during weekday rush period. There are 200 Metra trains and 500 of them are freight trains," Reiley said.
In some months, depending on what months it is, Metra can have the opportunity for greater delays according to Reiley.
One of the reasons why the Milwaukee North system comes in second place for the highest amount of freight delays is because Metra owns the Milwaukee North rails.
Reily mentions how this train line intersect with the Canadian Pacific which causes more delays.
"A train cannot switch lanes like a car. If a freight has a breakdown when we are having rush hour it affects over 20 trains while non rush hours affects a few trains," Reiley said.
As a way to solve the problem of freight train interference on the Milwaukee North line, Schwieterman mentions how there is the hope to put a new passing track near Glenview and Lake Forest to allow greater efficiency of train movement.
"One train can pull on the side and another can pass it. That is being fought by the city government since they are worried about more train traffic which means more traffic crossing the roads," Schwieterman said.
Despite these high amount of freight train delays on some of these lines Metra has been addressing these concerns.
"Fortunately there are solutions to some of these problems that may only be a few years away," Schwieterman said. "The most notable one is on the Rock Island and Southwest service lines where there is a problematic crossing at 75th street where these different lines come together and you have lots of delays. The plan is to build new connections down there."