These projects provide for the renewal of rail highway grade crossings at various locations on the RID. The specific crossings to be renewed will be based on the stage of deterioration at each crossing. The work will include, but not be limited to, replacement of cross ties, crossing material, and ballast, as well as the surfacing of the track.

These projects provide for the renewal of rail highway grade crossings at various locations on the Union Pacific Lines. The specific crossings to be renewed will be based on the stage of deterioration at each crossing. The work will include, but not be limited to, replacement of cross ties, crossing material, and ballast, as well as the surfacing of the track.

This project will replace various signal infrastructure such as junction boxes, electrical cabinets, wiring, LED lights, and other essential components on an as-needed basis. Locations and scope of work are determined upon routine inspection or failure.

This project funds the in-house design and installation of necessary telecommunications hardware to migrate from land-line telephones at various Metra facilities to modern VoIP phone systems. Metra Telecommunications engineers will complete the necessary design, configuration, and installation of the new phones and system components, software upgrades, cyber security updates, and related components. This project will realize cost savings as Metra will be able to disconnect expensive phone lines and all project work will be completed by Metra forces.

This project will replace the 16th Street interlocking with a modern solid-state automated electronic system at a junction with tracks owned by Canadian National (CN) near 16th Street in Chicago. The 16th Street interlocking plant consists of an obsolete manual interlocking with two outdated hand lever machines built in 1901 and 1929. There are no manufacturers of spare or replacement equipment for these machines.

This project will replace various signal infrastructure such as junction boxes, electrical cabinets, wiring, LED lights, and other essential components on an as-needed basis. Locations and scope of work are determined upon routine inspection or failure.

This project will fund the design, replacement, and expansion of the Harvey Substation along the Metra Electric (ME) Line. The rectifiers are several decades old, difficult to repair due to a lack of spare components, and they have long exceeded their useful life. This project is a prerequisite for additional service capacity. The project is part of an ongoing program to repair and replace components of the electrical power distribution system and will allow for additional trains to be scheduled.

This multi-year project will standardize the layout of switches on the Metra Electric, Rock Island and Milwaukee North and West lines.

This project will fund the design, replacement, and expansion of the Vollmer Substation along the Metra Electric (ME) Line. The rectifiers are several decades old, difficult to repair due to a lack of spare components, and they have long exceeded their useful life. This project is a prerequisite for additional service capacity. The project is part of an ongoing program to repair and replace components of the electrical power distribution system and will allow for additional trains to be scheduled.

This project consists of the replacement of the coaxial cable and copper cable used to conduct voice and signal data on the Metra Electric District’s Main Line. The fiber optic cable will connect to the recent installation on the South Chicago Branch and Blue Island Branch and extend to the downtown terminal. Existing cable will be replaced with fiber optic cable. New cable will be hung on the catenary structures in a manner similar to the existing cable.

This project will fund an engineering study of constant tension technology for the potential application to the Metra Electric (ME) District. The catenary system is currently undergoing extensive rehabilitation. Constant tension technology may be added to the catenary rehabilitation project scope pending the results of this study.

This project will fund the design, replacement, and expansion of the Brookdale Substation along the Metra Electric (ME) Line. The rectifiers are several decades old, difficult to repair due to a lack of spare components, and they have long exceeded their useful life. This project is a prerequisite for additional service capacity. The project is part of an ongoing program to repair and replace components of the electrical power distribution system and will allow for additional trains to be scheduled.

This project will provide design and construction funds for the replacement of the Morgan Street Interlocking on Metra’s Milwaukee C&M subdivision, the signal system infrastructure between Canal Street and A-2 interlocking. The Morgan St. Interlocker and crossings were originally installed in the early 1960’s. The signal system is also affected by the extreme weather conditions common to the Chicago region. It has become extremely difficult in recent years to get parts to make repairs to keep the system operational.

This project will improve signals from Rondout to Deerfield on the Milwaukee North Line. The project will include but not be limited to improve pedestrian crossings at the West Lake Forest Station, as well as grade crossing improvements at Everett and Conway roads in Lake Forest. IDOT will being doing improvements in conjunction with this project.

This project will acquire new telecommunications network equipment to replace aging, obsolete equipment. Improvements funded by this project include, but may not be limited to, replacing failing routing equipment used for data storage, purchasing servers for circuits to be used on the Union Pacific Lines, replacing camera firewall routers, and installing new telecommunications switches. This project supports planned improvements to the video storage system, the ACORN project, and the fiber optic network along the Rock Island (RI) and SouthWest Service (SWS) Lines.

Metra’s aging communications systems will be updated, improved, or replaced under this project to implement state-of-the-art solutions that are more reliable. Sub-projects may include, but may not be limited to, the improvement or replacement of Metra’s current radio systems, phone systems, and data-transfer systems. Project activities may reduce the long-term operating, audit, monitoring, and repair costs while improving the reliability of various communications systems.

Public Information Displays (PIDs) at the terminal stations in downtown Chicago have exceeded their useful life and are due for replacement. Crucial information is such as arrival times, the track number of arrivals and departures, equipment failures, and delays are visually communicated to Metra riders via the PIDs system. Project activities may include, but are not limited to, installing equipment and components, purchasing new hardware for emergency repairs, and the installation of a replacement system.

This project will provide funds for the replacement of the Seeger Interlocking on Metra’s Union Pacific
Northwest line (MP 18.5). The layout of the control point only allows 30 mph crossover speeds for
commuter trains. The goal of this upgrade, in addition to updating the equipment, would be to increase
the train speeds to 40 mph, and upgrade the switch layouts to meet current railroad design
specification.
The existing signal system is approximately 50 years old and requires replacement due to age and

Converting the tie stations into substations and installing a new substation will
increase capacity and reliability on the Metra Electric District. Construction was
performed moving from north to south. Construction was completed at 31st
Street and 51st Street. Design for 95th Street and Riverdale are 100% complete.
Bids were received and contract was awarded for both 95th St. and Riverdale
substation construction. The contractor was issued an NTP in October 2018 and