Recent content by NorthShore

As someone who loves historic train stations, I especially appreciated your inclusion of details for those you passed along your way.

With your interest in local advocacy for Amtrak, I'm thinking you ought to be involved with the Rail Passengers Association, if you're not already.

I'm curious as to whether this was Metra or CTA.

He's my hero!

From what I've been seeing on social media, from another reliable member of this forum, there has been some real back and forth as to what trains in Hiawatha/Borealis service may or may not get cancelled on these dates. Perhaps part of that discussion is what to do without a protect consist...

It's been awhile since I've been through on a layover, but Schenectady is quite the nice town with lots of restaurants and interesting shops in a walkable area. Haven't consulted the schedule, but it always seemed like an ideal place for a layover to me.

For a native Chicagoan, like me, this is surreal. Colorized film from a century ago. It features some buildings, then new (such as the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower, along with the Opera House and Daily News Building under construction) as well as those (such as the Art Institute)...

As I recall, traditionally, in Chicago the CTA Schedule day has long started at 3 A.M. This allows the past midnight trips to be on the route schedule of the previous day, at least from the customer side. In practice, a driver or train operator might start their "day" on a night car at 10 P.M...

I'm interested in how it could affect driver/operator work schedules; realizing that the "pick" is not necessarily for the same run of trips, say M-F but a collection of sometimes related, often varied runs and routes on a variety of days.

For many riders who CHOOSE transit, for a variety of reasons including cost of driving/parking and convenience, the perception of safety is key. If they do not feel safe, even if they are at worst discomforted and inconvenienced, they will opt to drive and avoid transit whenever possible. For...

And downtown Chicago, while quieter than normal on Christmas night, will still be active with visitors. Consider walking over to Millennium Park as well as the Daley Center plaza to see city Holiday decorations. The windows at Macy's aren't all they used to be when it was Marshall Fields, but...

Merry Christmas from Chicago!

While you might encounter homeless people on the train, the ride on the Orange Line at this time should be reasonably fine. If you're concerned about safety, just find an L car with other people and obvious flight travelers or airport employees on board, and sit there. If I were visiting...

There's also the Mon/Fri work at home versus Tue-Thur at the office phenomenon. I think transit agencies will need to shift from assuming there is a standard weekday, a Saturday, and a Sunday schedule and adjust service levels to more specific needs on different days of the week. If, for...

I suppose "it depends.". During the height of the pandemic, most of those who still rode and relied upon transit were the kinds of essential workers who were needed in specific places; often not car owners. However, a lot of downtown daily workers and others who no longer need to come to "the...