The Metra Board of Directors today approved one of the first components of the agency’s ambitious plan to modernize its rolling stock, authorizing a $91.1 million contract to rehabilitate 41 locomotives.
The contract to renovate to engines to “like new” condition was awarded to Progress Rail Services Corp. of Patterson, Ga. The work covers 41 EMD Model F40PH-2 and F40PHM-2 locomotives that were originally built between 1989 and 1992.
“This contract is the first of many we expect to approve over the next decade to replace or renovate nearly every car and locomotive in our fleet,” said Metra Chairman Martin Oberman. “We want our riders to know that we are committed to providing the safe, reliable and modern fleet that they deserve.”
The $2.4 billion, 10-year modernization plan, announced last fall, is the first long-term rolling stock plan in Metra history. It calls for renovating 455 cars and 85 locomotives (including the 41 in this contract), and purchasing 367 new cars and 52 new locomotives. That will renew a fleet where more than 40 percent of the cars date from the Eisenhower administration to the Reagan administration.
The plan also will cover Metra’s costs to install the federally mandated Positive Train Control safety system.
The modernization plan assumes that current state and federal funding sources will total about $710 million of the $2.4 billion program over the next 10 years, with Metra financing covering another $400 million. Metra will need an additional $1.3 billion over the next decade. To cover that amount, Metra will aggressively pursue additional federal and state funding, new financing strategies and alternative financing mechanisms.
The rehabilitated locomotives will feature a new high-voltage cabinet with a microprocessor control system; remanufactured engines upgraded to U.S. EPA Tier 0+ emissions standards; new and reconditioned accessories; car body corrosion repair and new paint; rebuilt electrical rotating equipment; rebuilt trucks with new wheels; and Positive Train Control components.