(The following story by Mary Wisniewski appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times website on August 26, 2010.)
CHICAGO — Five minutes before the 5:21 p.m. Metra train to Kenosha was set to depart Wednesday, every seat was filled. Disgruntled commuters stood in the aisles on the top and bottom levels, or grabbed perches on the stairs.
“They haven’t checked our tickets in three days,” said Danira Dizdarevic, 33, who travels to Rogers Park. “It’s too crowded.”
Metra’s Union Pacific North Line altered its schedules this week to accommodate an eight-year, $185 million project to rebuild 22 bridges and replace the Ravenswood station.
But so far, the schedule changes are causing problems on the third-busiest line in Metra’s system. Commuters Monday saw delays as much as 25 minutes, and packed trains.
While the delays are down, some morning and evening rush-hour trains continue to have standing-room only conditions, and Metra is considering schedule fixes and adding cars to some runs.
“We are looking to see if we can make adjustments,” said Michael Gillis, Metra spokesman.
The schedule changed to prepare for the route being reduced from two tracks to one during construction. Metra officials decided it would be most efficient to send trains through in groups in one direction, rather than have them toggle back and forth with one train going one way, and the next train coming from the opposite way.
These adjustments mean that there are new gaps in the schedule, and some trains have fewer stops, while some have more. For example, six trains used to depart from the Ogilvie Transportation Center to Evanston’s Davis stop between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Now, there are just two trains to Davis during that time period, and the 6:03 p.m. train is jammed.
Lonny Levin, 41, takes the 5:58 p.m. train to Central in Evanston. He said it was “like a sardine can” Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday evening two cars had been added, which was an improvement.
A conductor on the 5:21 p.m. train said it’s “rough”collecting tickets on a crowded train, and it can take all the way to Ravenswood to complete a single car.
“I wonder how much money they’re losing?” Dizdarevic wondered. “This is such bad planning.” She admitted that despite the glitches on Metra, she still wouldn’t switch to the CTA.