(The following report by Andre Salles appeared on the Suburban Chicago News website on July 11.)
GENEVA, Ill. — Riders on Metra’s Union Pacific West line may want to attend the rail company’s public hearing at 5 p.m. at city hall.
On the docket will be a discussion of Metra’s plans to upgrade that line, with more trains, new tracks, improved signals and a complete renovation of the A-2 crossing in Chicago, Metra says.
The whole project will cost about $441 million, according to Metra spokesman Patrick Waldron, and will be paid for largely with federal funds.
The public hearings are part of the federal funding process, Waldron said, and although there is no timeline for the project, Waldron said it would take years to complete.
What does this mean for those who take the train from Elburn, LaFox, Geneva, West Chicago and points east into Chicago? More options, Waldron said.
The plan is to increase peak morning transportation from 11 inbound trains to 17, and from five outbound trains to seven, with a similar increase in the evening peak times.
There also will be an as-yet-undetermined increase in express service, Waldron said.
The UP-West line runs from Elburn to Chicago, passing through Geneva, West Chicago, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Villa Park, Maywood and Oak Park, among other towns, along the way.
And the upgrades could have an effect on Aurora-area commuters who take the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line. The Burlington line runs from Aurora to Chicago, with stops in Naperville, Lisle and Downers Grove, among other places, and is the railroad’s most popular line.
Waldron said that the goal of upgrading the UP-West line is to decrease congestion on some other lines — and many commuters in the Batavia-Geneva area take the Burlington because there are more trains and more options for travel. Metra expects some of those commuters to switch over to the new Union Pacific line.
That possibly could ease congestion at Aurora’s Burlington Northern station downtown and at the Illinois 59 station that serves both Aurora and Naperville. Both stations have crowded parking lots and trains.
Some of the $441 million will go to increasing parking capacity at stations along the UP-West line to make way for the boost in ridership Metra expects. The Geneva station already has begun construction on a parking deck, expected to be complete by fall.