(The following story by Mary Wisniewski appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times website on September 30, 2010.)
CHICAGO — Feeling the heat from riders furious over schedule changes, Metra has postponed construction work on its Union Pacific North Line.
The North Line — where trains have been running on a new and much-criticized schedule since Aug. 22 — will go back to its old schedule Sunday.
Metra had changed the schedule to accommodate a $185 million, eight-year construction project, which will rebuild 22 bridges on the commuter rail service’s third-busiest line and build a new Ravenwood station. The line runs from downtown’s Ogilvie Transportation Center through the northern suburbs to Kenosha, Wis.
The work would have limited the line to a single track. Now Metra plans to rethink the project so that both tracks can stay open.
Metra has been savaged by riders who complained the changes had resulted in late, standing-room-only trains. Metra also was losing money because conductors were not always able to get through the crowded cars to punch tickets.
“We firmly believe that the quality of service and ease of travel to our passengers is paramount and thus are going back to the schedule that best fits the needs of our passengers,” Metra board chairwoman Carole Doris said.
Metra had hoped to save about $80 million by going to a single track for the work. Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said she doesn’t know how much the revised construction plans will cost. “We’re going back to the drawing board on engineering” she said, adding that the new plan might stretch construction to 12 years. The project may be rebid.
Metra has changed the schedule twice since Aug. 21 and was planning to try a third time before it scrapped its plans.
“No matter how many times we tried to shift and tweak the schedule, we were just too constrained on a single track,” Pardonnet said.
Metra board member Jim LaBelle has suggested that Metra restore a third track that used to be on the line until it was taken out in the late 1970s.