(The following story by Mary Wisniewski appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times website on September 27, 2010.)
CHICAGO — In the Nelson Algren story “Lest the Traplock Click,” a hobo prays for it to be less cold and for a train to come. The narrator scoffs that it’s one thing to pray for a change in the weather, but it’s really too much to ask heaven to jiggle the train schedule.
The difficulty of jiggling train schedules has become painfully clear for Union Pacific North Line riders, as Metra tries for a third time to fix the schedule to accommodate a $185 million construction project to rebuild 22 bridges and replace the Ravenswood station.
The eight-year project requires Metra to go from two tracks to one track along the Chicago portion of the Kenosha-bound route. Metra changed the schedule on its third-most-popular line Aug. 22. The adjustments required sending trains through in groups to avoid switching back and forth from one direction to another. This meant gaps in the schedule and late and crowded trains.
To fix the problem, Metra tried again, proposing a new schedule that was supposed to take effect Sunday. But the proposed changes caused so many problems for Evanston riders that Metra is back at the drawing board, trying to work out another schedule that would start the week of Oct. 3. The new, new schedule should be announced this week.
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet explained that what makes this so hard is that a northbound and southbound train would normally pass one another, but now will have to funnel through on one track. Another complication is that there are more reverse commuters.
“It’s kind of a chess game, but it also has a domino effect,” said Pardonnet, using a two-game analogy. “There’s a lot of strategy to figure out the least impact on commuters.”
Riders on the North Line complain that cars are sometimes so crowded that conductors can’t collect tickets, which doesn’t affect monthly ticketholders but gives free trips to 10-ride users. Pardonnet didn’t know how much money Metra has lost because of this.
Brian Stansfield, 41, who commutes from Evanston, said he switched to Metra from the CTA because it was more pleasant. “I didn’t have to stand in the snow at Belmont waiting for the express,” Stansfield said. But crowded, late-arriving trains have become such a hassle that he’s considering switching back.
Art Anderson, a retired Metra conductor and station manager, said the problem with a big construction project like this is “you can’t really ask the passengers what they want because you have to do it for operating efficiency.” But he noted that going down by one track wouldn’t be an issue if a third track hadn’t been removed years ago.
“Poor decisions are coming to fruition,” Anderson said.
The decision to take out the third track was made in the late 1970s, before the line was acquired by Union Pacific, Pardonnet said. She said Metra hasn’t ruled out the idea of adding back the third track.
Pardonnet said the bridge project could be done leaving both tracks open, but costs would rise by $80 million. “That’s why we’re going through all these headaches and inconveniences,” Pardonnet said.