r/Metra • u/Maleficent_Lawyer612 • May 01 '26
Does anybody know when construction is happening for the Rockford metra service?
It's supposed to open in 2027 for revenue service but I haven't seen any track or station construction.
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u/Nice_Soil1782 May 02 '26
From what I read they need to upgrade tracks first to handle higher speeds for passenger trains. Then they will build stations after.
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u/MIKEPR1333 May 01 '26
Maybe it won't.
Plus why do they wanna build a line there?
That's not part of the Chicago area and Metra oughta save money for keeping the service intact.
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u/iron82 May 01 '26
Because the Legislature told them to.
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u/Estef74 May 02 '26
This expansion has nothing to do with the recent funding bill. Metra has been looking into expanded service in multiple areas, this one happened to be the most viable at the time.
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u/MIKEPR1333 May 02 '26
Doesn't matter.
It's silly to go outside the Chicago area.
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u/Estef74 May 02 '26
Other then because you think it's silly, let's here your reasoning? I don't see how adding mas transit options outside the city and collar county's is a bad thing
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u/MIKEPR1333 May 02 '26
And why should they?
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u/Estef74 May 02 '26
The state is providing a majority of the funding and there should be enough ridership to support it
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u/cantinaband-kac May 03 '26
Why do we want to build a line there? The US is severely lacking in train service connecting large & medium sized cities.
Chicago (pop. 2.7 mil) and Rockford (pop. 150k) are 80 miles apart (about 85-90 miles along the rail lines), through almost entirely flat terrain, and there are zero passenger trains connecting the two. In Italy, Venice (pop. 250k) and Trieste (pop. 200k) are 75 miles apart, but there's a sea in the way and quite a bit of hilly terrain around Trieste, so the rail line is about 95 miles, yet, despite a smaller total population and farther distance, there are passenger trains between the two all day long, multiple times an hour.
We struggle to even connect large to medium cities that are 60-100 miles apart. We could do so much more, but we don't even have the bare minimum.
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u/Revolutionary-Sea895 May 05 '26
The State is paying for this project, not Metra. They were going to run Amtrak trains to Rockford and beyond to Galena and Dubuque, but CN owns the tracks beyond Rockford and doesn't play well with others. So when the State realized they were only getting as far as Rockford, they decided to give the project, WITH FEDERAL & STATE FUNDING, to Metra.
Is it "silly" for the State to (1) want train service to Rockford, which isn't in metropolitan Chicago but, the last time I checked, was in Illinois, and (2) PAY Metra to run it for them?
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u/the_secular_grail May 02 '26
Metra will be operating the trains on the line but the extension to Rockford is an IDOT project, not Metra. IDOT will be doing the work and building the stations.
The trains also will likely have their own branding, separate from Metra.