Metra has completed its preparations for winter weather in anticipation of a challenging snow season ahead. Some long-range forecasters, including the Farmers’ Almanac, are predicting an exceptionally cold and snowy winter.
“Snow, ice and cold temperatures make winter travel a challenge for everyone in Chicago – including Metra,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “We are bracing for a challenging snow season and have taken all the steps we can to be ready for winter’s bite.”
Winterization Efforts
Each year, Metra takes the following steps to help mitigate the impact of winter weather on railroad operations:
- Inspect and test Metra’s 463 mainline switches along the Milwaukee North and West, Metra Electric, Rock Island and SouthWest Service. BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have performed similar work.
- Test nozzles on 275 hot-air switch heaters. These nozzles supercharge the heat to get the maximum performance and concentrate the hot air precisely where it’s needed. BNSF Railway also has nozzles on its hot-air switch heaters and UP has them on many such heaters.
- Inspect and test the remaining 188 mainline switch heaters that use gas flames or electric current. BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have performed similar work.
- Inspect snow and ice shields on 73 switches, which cover part of the switch machinery and help concentrate and contain the hot air from the switch heaters. BNSF and UP also use shields on many switches.
- Inspect doors on older cars for defects, worn guides and corrosion. Gaps in the door pockets created during train operations can fill with fine snow and extreme temperatures can turn this snow into ice that jams the doors and leads to delays.
- Stockpile 63,000 bags or more than 3.1 million pounds of salt to cover the platforms and other areas under its responsibility.
- Inspect and test 45 snow plows at its disposal, not counting the equipment used by its parking vendor and the numerous municipalities responsible for clearing parking lots and other areas around most of its suburban stations.
- Inspect and test Metra’s three cold-air blowers and five hot-air jet blowers to clear its largest and most critical yards. The truck-mounted cold-air blowers clear ice and snow with a 525 mph blast. Capable of traveling over roads or rails, this versatile tool can quickly clear significant amounts of snow. Keeping yards clear is critical to operations, because any bottlenecks there can lead to delays getting trains in place for service.
Unfortunately, no railroad can completely eliminate a common winter switch problem: snow and ice accumulates on the underside of locomotives and train cars, and then falls off the train, into a switch, as the train rumbles over it. The snow and ice can then prevent the movable part of the switch from making contact with the rail. If that contact can’t be made, an electric circuit cannot be completed and, as a failsafe, the signal system will not permit a train to proceed over the switch. In those cases, the switch must be cleared manually and Metra routinely assigns employees to key switching locations during winter storms to keep the switches clear.
Snow Schedules
When extreme weather conditions do not allow for operation of regularly scheduled service, Metra may implement snow schedules that are meant to give the agency more flexibility and, ultimately, enable more passengers to reach their destinations in a timely manner. Metra’s snow schedules include about 75 to 80 percent of regularly scheduled trains.
If Metra decides to implement the snow schedules, it will provide advanced notice to customers via its website, email alerts, Twitter and the news media. Snow schedules are also uploaded into the schedules on Metra’s website for the days they are in effect.
Tips for Winter Travel on Metra
Metra understands the importance of providing reliable, real-time communications to help our customers make decisions about their travel options during winter weather and offers a number of tools:
- Email alerts – Customers can sign up to receive service alerts via email for a specific rail line during the times of day that are most important to them. Go to “My Metra” at metrarail.com to create an account.
- Track Your Train – Customers can access real-time information about train status and service alerts on our website. Customers can also follow the real-time location of their train using the Line Map feature.
- Twitter – Customers can follow each of Metra’s 11 rail lines for specific information and receive more general information about agency operations on the agency’s main Twitter feed.
- Ventra App – Customers can download the app and use the Transit Tracker for information about Metra trains, Pace buses and CTA trains and buses. The free app is available in the App Store or Google Play.
- Passenger Services – Customers can call 312-322-6777 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with questions about train schedules and service.