DeKalb, Ill., funds study on possible Metra service - trains.com

[MisterUptempo]

January 13, 2023

DeKalb, Ill. — The DeKalb City Council has voted to fund a transportation study aimed at determining the feasibility of bringing Metra commuter rail service to the city.

At its meeting earlier this week, the council voted unanimously to fund a $98,379 study by Sam Schwartz Consulting LLC “to identify potential ridership, capital costs, and operating requirements as a basis for defining the financial feasibility” of Metra service.

The City Council and Northern Illinois University, which also supports the study, have asked that the results be delivered in 120 days.

Metra service on the Union Pacific West line currently terminates in Elburn, Ill., approximately 15 miles from downtown DeKalb; DeKalb’s bus system includes service to the Elburn station. Any expansion of Metra service to DeKalb faces a political hurdle in that DeKalb County is not one of the six member counties of Metra’s parent organization, the Regional Transportation Authority.

Link to Trains.com story.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Interesting: DeKalb is growing, has a good sized university and is close enough for Metra to be extended easily. However, I wonder how long the travel time would be (would also be useful for getting to the western suburbs as well, not just to the Loop).

(funnily enough I was actually thinking about this the other day)

 

[MikefromCrete]

DeKalb, with its thousands of students at Northern Illinois University, is a logical terminus for the UP West line. However, the city lies outside the Regional Transportation Authority and some complicated discussions would be needed to expand the RTA and its taxes to DeKalb County or find some other way to pay for the extension and its operation.

 

[railiner]

I wonder, if the study will lead to going ahead with the proposed expansion, it might entice other communities that are beyond the last stop on other routes to do the same?

And would their counties have to “join” the Metra district, if outside of it, or could the communities just subsidize the service individually, without their outside county’s involvement?
Not sure of what Metra’s charter says about that…

 

[railiner]

DeKalb, with its thousands of students at Northern Illinois University, is a logical terminus for the UP West line. However, the city lies outside the Regional Transportation Authority and some complicated discussions would be needed to expand the RTA and its taxes to DeKalb County or find some other way to pay for the extension and its operation.

I was typing my similar post while you posted yours.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I wonder if the State would be willing to kick in some funding for this - without know more, I also wonder how easy it would be to extend service, i.e. track condition and station location.

 

[NorthShore]

Well, technically, Kenosha is outside the Metra district, too. Really, the Metra board is a political construct to ensure representation of the burbs against the city. If there were any resistance to expansion it could come from DeKalb should they be expected to kick in a lot financially, or from Cook County, if it were seen as a dimutation of the County Board President's influence over Metra.

There has long been discussion of whether Metra might make it to DeKalb. The relatively recent extension to Elburn and expansion of a significant rail yard there make it a real possibility. I imagine service might mimic that too Kenosha, with limited daily trains making the full trip.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

Well, technically, Kenosha is outside the Metra district, too.

I grew up in Kenosha, and used to ride the Chicago NorthWestern commuter trains to travel to the Chicago Loop (usually for shopping & museum visits). I imagine those CNW tracks are what the Metra line to Kenosha runs on.
(Where I live now is on Amtrak's Lincoln Service/Texas Eagle tracks, but the next Amtrak stop to the NE is Joliet, which I believe also has Metra. If I knew the Metra schedules better, Metra to Joliet could be a potential backup plan if I were to miss a connection coming home from an Amtrak LD train. It would certainly be nice if Metra service were extended to Dwight or Pontiac, but I can't imagine Livingston County providing the commuter ridership to extend Metra SW from Joliet. Maybe prison visitors to Pontiac Correctional Center, though?)

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Frankly, we need an agency covering distances/services between the statewide Amtrak service and Metra's intensive (for the most part, I know there are lines with skeleton service) commuter services for just this sort of regional rail service to communities that are outside the actual Chicago metro area and commuting region but are still in Northern Illinois. This could serve destinations such as Kankakee, Rochelle, DeKalb, Rockford, etc. Some of the actual service might be provided by or contracted out to Metra or Amtrak but under the aegis of this new agency.

 

[railiner]

Frankly, we need an agency covering distances/services between the statewide Amtrak service and Metra's intensive (for the most part, I know there are lines with skeleton service) commuter services for just this sort of regional rail service to communities that are outside the actual Chicago metro area and commuting region but are still in Northern Illinois. This could serve destinations such as Kankakee, Rochelle, DeKalb, Rockford, etc. Some of the actual service might be provided by or contracted out to Metra or Amtrak but under the aegis of this new agency.

I like the idea of the expansions you listed, but not having to create a whole new bureaucracy to implement it. I would rather see Metra’s responsibility altered to allow it, some way.

 

[NorthShore]

I grew up in Kenosha, and used to ride the Chicago NorthWestern commuter trains to travel to the Chicago Loop (usually for shopping & museum visits). I imagine those CNW tracks are what the Metra line to Kenosha runs on.

Yes, exactly. Service to Kenosha was maintained, as that's where there is a yard north of the Waukegan yard.

(Where I live now is on Amtrak's Lincoln Service/Texas Eagle tracks, but the next Amtrak stop to the NE is Joliet, which I believe also has Metra. If I knew the Metra schedules better, Metra to Joliet could be a potential backup plan if I were to miss a connection coming home from an Amtrak LD train. It would certainly be nice if Metra service were extended to Dwight or Pontiac, but I can't imagine Livingston County providing the commuter ridership to extend Metra SW from Joliet. Maybe prison visitors to Pontiac Correctional Center, though?)

I was once on a delayed Lincoln Service train to Chicago, which was certain to stay backed up beyond Joliet. I suggesred to the conductor that, if we got to Joliet before the last Metra train to Chicago left, passengers might prefer to transfer to the Rock Island for the rest of the trip.