Union Pacific announced in February that it intended to transfer its Chicago-area commuter operations to Metra in mid-April, provided the freight railroad and the commuter agency can agree on the cost. 

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, storehouse employees and station staff) 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. A key sticking point has been how much UP will charge for the use of its tracks. After multiple rounds of negotiations failed, UP has extended an offer to Metra to use binding arbitration to resolve the issue with the hope of finally transferring operations in mid-April. 

“We are proud of the work Metra and Union Pacific have accomplished to progress the transfer of services,” said Liisa Stark, vice president of Public Affairs. “We are committed to reaching a financial agreement this year that is fair to both parties.” —Justin Franz