Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Rail Transit

The Kensington/115th Street station on the Metra Electric District line's Blue Island branch. The proposed schedule change would make it easier to transfer between different kinds of runs at this station. Photo: Adam Moss

MED service changes for PTC would beef up Chicago service, change suburban expresses

By Igor Studenkov | Feb 24, 2020 | No Comments

Not to be confused with the South Cook Fair Transit project, Metra needs to adjust Metra Electric District schedules to accommodate Positive Train Control, a rail safety system.

Sadly, this is not the kind of rolling stock the CTA uses for "tiger train" runs.

Riding the Tiger: What’s up with those wacky hybrid Orange and Brown ‘L’ trains?

By John Greenfield | Feb 21, 2020 | No Comments

Here's the skinny about the CTA's weird Orange Line runs that become Brown Line trains when they reach the Loop, and then turn back into Orange trains.

Chicago's Cherry Avenue Bridge serves bicycles and trains. Photo: Steven Vance

Let’s modernize Chicago transportation with old-school technology

By John Greenfield | Feb 20, 2020 | No Comments

Tech gurus like Elon Musk say we "electric sleds," car tunnels, autonomous vehicles, and Hyperloop tubes will save America's cities from gridlock. What we really need is more trains, buses, and bikes.

A King County Metro bus on 5th Avenue in Seattle. Photo: Seattle Department of Transportation

Seattle decreased solo driving commutes, and Chicago can too

By Courtney Cobbs | Feb 20, 2020 | No Comments

Thanks to transportation progressive policies, the number of commuters driving solo in the Seattle region dropped from 53 percent in 2010 to 44 percent in 2018. Chicago should learn from that example.

Still from surveillance camera footage just before the impact.

Christopher T. Davis, 19, killed after Metra/car collision at crash-prone intersection

By John Greenfield | Feb 18, 2020 | No Comments

There were four train-motor vehicle crashes at the 87th/Pulaski Metra crossing over the past eight years, including a 2015 collision that killed two motorists.

Rendering of the proposed 103rd Street Red Line station. Image: CTA

Why not both? South Red Line project would complement, not compete with, rapid Metra service

By David Zegeye | Feb 17, 2020 | No Comments

When two out-of-towners on the payroll of an often-anti-transit organization exhort Chicagoans to "cancel" a rail project in an underserved neighborhood, skepticism is warranted.

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