Metra has asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to give it trackage rights over Union Pacific lines in northern Illinois to ensure commuter operations continue after the present service agreement with the freight railroad expires this summer.

The unusual move is the latest in a long-running saga over the operation of Metra commuter trains on three UP lines out of Chicago. The request, filed on March 7, comes just weeks after it looked like the dispute was heading toward a resolution. 

Since 1995, UP has operated commuter trains under the Metra banner on the Union Pacific West (to Elburn, Ill.), Northwest (to McHenry and Harvard, Ill.) and North (to Kenosha, Wis) lines. However, in 2019, the freight railroad told Metra it wanted to hand off the operation (while still owning the tracks for freight). 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. Earlier this year, it appeared that the handover would finally happen in April, but negotiations have been hung up on how much Metra will pay UP for access to its railroad. Metra has said UP is demanding “economically unreasonable and monopolistic rates.” Worried that the current service agreement will expire on June 30 before an agreement is made, Metra has asked the STB to give it trackage rights on the UP, enabling it to continue to run trains. The STB has not yet responded to the request. —Justin Franz