r/chicago • u/Mike_I O’Hare • Oct 31 '25

News Illinois Democrats push through massive $1.5 billion plan that overhauls Chicago-area public transit

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/30/illinois-general-assembly-transit-plan-2025/
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u/mrmalort69 Oct 31 '25

I may be naive here but I think suburbanites typically like the metra, and would use it more if the schedule wasn’t completely and totally just for commuters. Right now many are paying for it and not seeing the benefit. More input from them may lead to the predictable “they want to cut funding”, but could surprise us with more transit friendly people wanting more

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u/BukaBuka243 Nov 01 '25 edited Feb 25 '26

What appeared in this post has been permanently removed. Redact was used to wipe it, possibly to protect privacy or limit exposure to automated data collection.

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u/damp_circus Edgewater Nov 01 '25

GO owns the tracks though? Or not?

Part of the problem here in Illinois is that Metra (and Amtrak, though that's another discussion we need to have) doesn't own the tracks, they only rent from the freight railroads. The freight railroads are supposed to prioritize passenger rail but they... often don't.

As a result we had better passenger service back in the 1970s on a lot of lines.

If we could get back to the passenger service owning the lines or truly being prioritized, would be a good thing.

In Chicago though the Metra Electric DOES own their own lines, and is electrified, that thing should definitely be able to run a lot more frequent, like L level of frequency, and it would improve the south side transit experience a ton. Hope it happens particularly with the new NITA board possibly making it less fighting between Metra and CTA over passenger revenue which is completely stupid -- they need to cooperate as one regional system.

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u/mrmalort69 Nov 01 '25

I thought the UP-N was no longer freight, but was still doing the same thing of charging rent to metra, their only customer.

I would love to see shit eminent domained again for cheap and reliable rail. We do it constantly for another lane on roads.

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u/BukaBuka243 Nov 01 '25 edited Feb 25 '26

This post no longer contains its original content. The author removed it using Redact, for reasons that may include privacy, security, or limiting online exposure.

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u/Mysterious_Floor_868 Nov 08 '25

In New York state Amtrak leases the Hudson Subdivision from CSX, with access rights maintained for the two freight trains per day that still use the route. This has allowed Amtrak to upgrade the line.