Metra will be changing the schedule on the Metra Electric Line, including the cancellation of one outbound South Chicago Branch train during the evening rush, beginning April 23. The changes are being made to provide increased train spacing in preparation for the implementation of the Positive Train Control (PTC) safety system.
Metra Electric riders will notice changes in departure and arrival times to a number of trains in the range of two to five minutes during the morning and evening rush hours. The changes are necessary to meet PTC’s requirement that each signal and switch be tied into its communications system. To do this, Metra had to replace a manually operated switching system at 11th Place, just north of the Museum Campus/11th Street Station, with an automated system. More time will now be required to navigate this switching point because the signals must reset between each train. Schedules had to be adjusted to reflect the new operating conditions.
“We realize that some of our customers will be inconvenienced by these changes, but the implementation of PTC necessitates it,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “We examined this carefully and determined that we would need to eliminate a train run to meet the requirements of PTC and maintain a reliable schedule.”
The changes in train spacing necessitated by PTC will result in the permanent cancellation of South Chicago Branch outbound Train 407, the 5:15 p.m. departure from Millennium Station. To accommodate customers who formerly used Train 407, outbound Train 405 will now depart five minutes later at 5:05 p.m.
Several evening rush hour trains to University Park will also depart Millennium Station at later times. Train 707 will depart Millennium at 5:21 p.m. instead of 5:17 p.m., Train 737 will depart Millennium at 5:24 p.m. instead of 5:20 p.m. and Train 757 will depart Millennium at 5:27 p.m. instead of 5:23 p.m.
PTC is a federally mandated safety system that prevents certain types of train-to-train collisions, helps avoid derailments and other accidents caused by excessive speed and increases safety for workers. The system integrates GPS, communications units and a railroad’s centralized dispatching system to track trains, convey operating instructions and monitor the crew’s compliance. PTC will automatically stop a train if the system detects that a violation is about to occur. The federal government requires that all U.S. railroads have PTC in place and operational no later than Dec. 31, 2020. Additional schedule changes are anticipated as PTC is fully implemented across the Metra system.
Find more information on these schedule changes here.