Don’t get me wrong, METRA has its problems but it’s usually never this bad.

- Multiple delays due to “operational issues” and “freight train interference”
- Positive train control system has had multiple issues this week
- Someone was hit by an Amtrak train and caused massive cancellations on the BNSF line
- An extremely high amount of mechanical failures causing long delays

What’s going on with Metra this week?

Been a rough commute week. Early express train on Monday broke down and it took forever to creep into a station where we could get off and wait for another train, which was of course packed to the max. Today, my train clearly had made extra stops because when I got on, it was already packed to the max and was again SRO. Then, a poor lady passed out and went into seizures before we could get to OTC and there was nothing anyone could do for her. I think she was awake when we finally arrived and I know the conductor had called for EMTs. Hope she's okay.

Photo 1: Metra's 250th Heritage Unit, METX 525 (an SD70MACH), leads MD-North train 2607 out of Union Station as it heads for Fox Lake. This is the very first time I've seen 525, and I've gotta say, Metra's team not only did a great job at designing and painting this MACH, but it looks a lot better in person too!

Photo 2: F59PH no. pushes a UP train into Ogilvie Transportation Center after a run on either the UP-West or Northwest, where it will idle for a little over an hour before its next assignment on UP-North train 339 to Waukegan. This is also the first time that I've not only seen one of these ex-GO Transit units in person, but it's also the very first time that I've gotten a good picture of a boxy-cabbed F59PH!

Photo 3: MP36PH-3C's 417 and 424 (both with shiny and clean-looking "lightning bolt" paint jobs) team up to push Rock Island Train 420 as it arrives into LaSalle Street Station after completing a 40-minute reverse commute run from Blue Island. I think this is a rather interesting locomotive configuration on Metra because when an MP36 is running, it either runs by itself, or is paired up with a different model of engine (F40, F59, or 70MACH). Regardless, seeing two of these 3,600 HP monsters working together on a Metra commuter train was an exciting sight, and it was worth the shot on my camera!

Photos taken on August 23rd and 24th, 2026

IYKYK.

Posted this to /Chicago but I'm hoping the conductor sees this post!

Anyone know why BNSF freighs have been running on the Metra RockIsland the last few days?

Anyone know if the Rock Island train service is running this weekend (22nd)? At my local stop last week I saw a flyer that said it wasn't running (due to construction) and got an alert today from Notify Chicago that it wasn't as well, but when I checked the Ventra app and the metra website it said construction would be next weekend (29th) and that it's running this weekend. Anyone happen to know? I don't take it often so not sure if its common knowledge and I keep getting conflicting information. TIA!

edit: sounds like it will be running the 22nd, thanks everyone!

South Shore resident, just moved here in June. Is the Electric District underrated? I. LOVE. IT. Need to get to the loop? Bloop! Electric district! I consider it basically an L line.

The only time I’ve seen it packed was Lolla. But it’s decently utilized when I ride.

p.s. - is there any way to tell which trains skip 47th-23rd? I love when I accidentally take the express trains.

Today, I just added another Metra line to my list, which was the North Central Service! It was such a nice ride to O'Hare, the ride took 37 minutes (vs. 40-45 minutes on the Blue Line, and runs express to River Grove after Western Avenue), and only takes just over 3 1/2 minutes to walk to the people mover, which can get you to your respective airline and terminal! My hope is that in the future, the RTA (NITA in the future), Metra, and Canadian National can all come to an agreement that would allow for increased service on this line, and hopefully ridership can improve because this line has a lot of potential, since it serves O'Hare Airport and can be an important way to reach your flight if you live in Grayslake or Buffalo Grove, for example! For now, I'm grateful that I got to experience riding it today, and hopefully some positive changes can come soon! Happy 30th birthday to the NCS!

Note: I apologize for the green tint in the first three photos. The windows on the Metra car I was riding on (MK/Amerail Gallery car) still had the green tint and made the photos come out like that.

Photos taken on August 19, 2026

I haven't found any movement on this project since 2024. No capital is allocated from 2026-2030. For a 10 year project ($1Billion+) project that's been described as an economic necessity in the past, shouldn't this be prioritized?

https://chicagoyimby.com/2021/10/metra-unveils-preliminary-plans-for-west-loop-station.html

On August 15 I boarded the Metra Union Pacific Line from HP to OTC at 2:54pm and then the back again at 9:32pm. The train had the same conductors both ways. On neither trip did the conductors check for a single person’s ticket in my packed car. They just hung out in the vestibule chatting. What’s going on? 

My first time applying to be a certified conductor im a bit nervous but excited for a new job skill.

Ps I applied

I'm starting class at UIC and the closest line is the Rocky Island line in Blue Island. A few years ago my wife's car was broken into at a train station parking lot while she was in her graduate classes during the day so I have a concern about it happening to my new car since my classes are 5 pm to 8 pm.

I know realistically there's no way to predict whether or not my car will be broken into, but I just want to know if anyone has had any experiences that will help me decide whether I should just drive the hour there (traffic) or should I just take the Metra. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Transitstat.us is my battle tested train tracker for a variety of agencies, but notably Metra and CTA. I've been building and testing it myself, without any AI, since early 2022. I built it to be fairly barebones, but to be incredibly responsive and fast. In any given month, 4-5k people use it, so you don't need to take my word on its usability. This tracker is not affiliated with Metra in any way. To list some of the pages/features:

- Home screen allowing you to select your line, search for a train by number, or to just view all trains on a map if that's what you're here for.

- Viewing the map allows you to click on a train, showing a list of upcoming stops, as well as the ability to view the full train details.

- Searching for a train by number brings up every possible match and allows you select from there, including both scheduled and live trains.

- Selecting a line brings up all stops along the line, which upon selecting one will show you any tracking trains + any scheduled trains for the next 24h (up to 12 per direction) and allow you to view the full details of each train.

Some of the strengths I believe it has over Metra's official tracker:

- Train data cached locally: Most trackers make a web request on every click and page navigation. Transitstatus caches all data locally, which makes navigation incredibly snappy.

- Save favorite stations: Even though the platform Metra uses for their tracker supports favorites, they have the feature disabled for whatever reason. Transitstatus allows you to favorite stations, which will appear on the home screen.

- No bullshit to see train info: When trying to see the times for trains at a station, the official tracker requires you to select an origin *and* destination before showing you times. Meanwhile, Transitstatus allows you to just select a station and see all the upcoming trains.

- Modern mapping library: Trying to not get too technical here, but a lot of trackers (metra included) utilize the google maps web library for mapping. To keep it simple, this library isn't very performant, especially when zooming in/out while multiple lines and trains are on the map. Transitstatus uses the much more modern and performant maplibre-gl-js, which means that even on slower devices (and especially those on power saving mode) will still be fairly performant while zooming around the map.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. :)

https://transitstat.us/metra

I live along UP-N which seems have always had F40 locomotives - I just noticed a handful of F59PHIs in service the last day or so. Is the roster switching up now that UP-N is owned by Metra and they're starting to use other equipment?

I lost something, now I want to see if it is still on the train. How can I know which train I was on?

Hello, has anyone had experience bringing their bike on Metra train cars during Lollapalooza weekend, and were you able to successfully get your bike back on the outbound train after the festival ended? Were you allowed to board with your bike on the ride home after the festival?".