A series of four community meetings the Illinois Department of Transportation is hosting this week keeps the flame alive that Governor JB Pritzker's promise of Metra service between Chicago and Rockford was not just a cheap trick.
The service has been discussed for over two decades, originally as part of the restoration of Amtrak service between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa. Disagreements with Canadian National Railway, which owns the tracks IDOT preferred, led the state to shift to the one alternative that would at least get the train as far as Rockford. This involves taking the Milwaukee District West line to Elgin, and a Union Pacific freight line the rest of the way.
In July 2023, the state announced that Metra commuter rail will operate the service instead of Amtrak, but under the same arrangement that IDOT currently has with the intercity railroad for state-supported services. Metra will operate the Rockford trains using its own crews, and IDOT will cover most of the costs.
The current hearings are taking place in the Forest City and the three municipalities where the new service will have intermediate stops: Belvedere, Huntley and Elgin. The meetings were an opportunity for residents to hear about how the route planning is going, and ask questions.
The Tuesday afternoon event, held in downtown Elgin at The Centre of Elgin recreational space, was lightly attended, but informative.
So far, IDOT has mostly been studying the tracks and the existing freight service patterns, and mapped out where tracks would need to be upgraded. While those details are important, they're a bit "inside baseball" for the average would-be passenger. But state officials also shared some details on what the stations will be like, and how the service will operate.
Service patterns
Scott Speegle, IDOT’s passenger rail communications manager, said that, while the exact schedule is still being developed, the Chicago-Rockford train will have two morning trips and two afternoon trips, one in each direction. That' similar to how Amtrak's state-supported Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr and Illini/Saluki train pairs currently operate. The Windy City-Furniture City trip will take around two hours each way. Speegle confirmed that riders traveling between Chicago and Rockford will be able to board and disembark at Elgin no matter what direction they go.
(Amtrak state-supported Hiawatha and Lincoln Service trains make regular stops at Glenview and Joliet, respectively. But Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr and Illini/Saluki don’t transport riders between Chicago and any of the stations it shares with Metra.)
A display board at Tuesday's meeting mentioned that Metra and IDOT are currently holding negotiations about the fares. Speegle said that the fact the new Chicago-Rockford service will allow riders to travel express between Elgin and Chicago is one of the reasons why.
"One of the considerations is what to charge people to get on at Elgin to [reach] Chicago and vice-versa," he said. "Travel there will be quicker, and [we need to] to balance the express trains vs more local [trains]."
While Metra has multiple rush hour express options on most lines, sometimes in both directions, this will be the first time Metra has run express between two terminals without any intermediate stops whatsoever.
Another issue is that the new service will go far beyond Metra’s fare zones. So even if Metra just charges the regular fare for Chicago-Elgin trips, it will still need to figure out what to charge for travel further northwest.
Speegle said he expects the fares to be somewhere between regular Metra fares and Amtrak state-supported service fares. One-way Metra tickets between fare zones 1-4 cost $6.75. One-way Amtrak fares southwest-northeast between Chicago and Mendota (the closest Chicago-Rockford equivalent in terms of distance) can range between $17-$30 depending on the time of day and how far in advance you book.
The stations
Speegle said that the station locations are "about 90 percent there... It’s pretty much decided, but there’s still some wiggle room." He added that he expects the locations to be settled by 2025.
The only station location Speegle confirmed was that the Elgin stop would be the downtown Chicago Street station. When the service was initially announced, Metra declined to say which of the three Elgin stations would be the Second City-Reaper City line's Elgin stop, but the downtown station was always the most logical choice. It has the most capacity, with two thorough tracks and two stub tracks, and it’s right next to Elgin Transportation Center, a major Pace suburban bus hub.
While Rockford Mass Transit District stopped providing bus service to Belvedere in July, it still provides extensive service to Rockford proper. Speegle said that IDOT intends to work with RMTD on planning intermodal service coordination once the schedules and station locations are finalized.
Speegle said that the stations would be spartan in design: a single platform with tactile edges and a bus-style shelter with seats. He said that each station would have bicycle parking, car parking, and passenger information displays. The displays, which Metra has been gradually installing throughout the system, shows real-time arrival information, as well as public service announcements.
The presentation boards mentioned that the downtown Elgin station would get improvements, but both Speegle and Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis said they couldn’t speak to what that would entail.
Asked whether Chicago-Rockford riders could bring bikes on board, Speegle and Gillis both said that, while IDOT and Metra hasn’t discussed that topic, they "didn’t see why not," since Metra will use its regular train cars. Last winter, the railroad made its "bikes on all trains" pilot policy permanent.
The next steps
Speegle said IDOT expects to hold similar meetings at the four relevant municipalities around this time next year. He added that he understands that, given all the false starts the project has had, it it's important to reassure residents that there has been progress.
According to the timeline presented at the meeting, the design will be finalized by 2026, with construction slated for completion by 2027.
Speegle said that there may be some intermediate stops, mentioning that the city of Marengo, about halfway between Elgin and the Screw Capital of the World, "expressed some interest" in having a station on the new line. Transit enthusiasts know Marengo as the town about 3.8 miles west of the Illinois Railway Museum, the biggest railroad museum in United States. Speegle said that any additional stations would be something municipalities and Metra would have to negotiate.
Kane County commissioner Chris Kious, who serves on the board’s transportation committee, was among a handful of people who popped in at the Elgin meeting. He said he was cautiously optimistic. "It’s obviously in the very starting states, but I think it’s very exciting," Kious said, adding that anything that would increase transit options in the county and increase opportunities for multimodal connections "is a good thing."
For more information, visit the project Chicago-Rockford project website.
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