By Railfan & Railroad Staff

The effort to transfer the operation of Union Pacific’s three commuter lines in the Chicago area to Metra has been delayed again.

In early 2023,  it was announced that Metra would assume services on the three lines including train crew, mechanical, car cleaning, rolling stock maintenance, ticket sales and some engineering duties. The tracks themselves, however, would still be owned by UP. Commuter service in Chicago is unusual in that Metra operates some routes and others are operated by freight railroads under contract for Metra. For example, UP operates the Union Pacific West (to Elburn, Ill.), Northwest (to McHenry and Harvard, Ill.) and North (to Kenosha, Wis) lines and BNSF Railway operates the BNSF Line to Aurora, Ill. While Metra owns the equipment, the UP and BNSF logos sometimes appear on signage and timetables. UP has operated its three lines since 1995 when it took over the Chicago & North Western. The freight railroad is paid $100 million annually to operate the commuter services. 

UP was expected to hand off commuter operations to Metra in early 2023 and then late 2024. In fact, some employees (specifically mechanical and storehouse employees) have already become Metra employees. But in a filing in December, UP officials told the U.S. Surface Transportation Board that the two parties needed more time. Attorneys for UP said the Class I and Metra remained “actively engaged” in the process and hoped to find a resolution by the end of January.