Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles (2018)

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39 The Metropolitan Rail Corporation (Metra) is one of the three entities that operate the rail and bus systems in Chicago and northeastern Illinois under the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA). RTA is the unit of local government charged with regional fi nancial and budgetary oversight and funding and transit planning for Metra, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Pace Suburban Bus Division (the three are collectively known as the Service Boards). The RTA bus and rail services provide more than 2 million rides each weekday in six counties in northeastern Illinois: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will. Metra provides commuter rail service connecting downtown Chicago with 68 other Chicago locations and 100 suburban communities. The Metra rail system comprises 11 lines providing service at 239 stations. The network itself is made up of more than 1,100 pieces of rolling stock, 800 bridges, more than 2,000 signals, 16 rail storage yards, and 6 major maintenance facilities. The Metra service area is 3,700 square miles west and south of Chicago, making it geographically the largest commuter rail system in the United States and the fi fth largest in terms of ridership, serving an average of 270,000 weekday riders. Metra’s operational interface with an extensive freight rail network also makes it one of the nation’s more complex commuter rail systems. The Regional Transportation Authority Act created a 16-member RTA Board of Directors as the governing body of RTA. The three Service Boards operate independently, and each is governed by a board of directors. The 11-member Metra Board of Directors is composed of members representing the six- county Chicago metropolitan area. RTA develops and allocates resources among the Service Boards. RTA also oversees and approves the Service Boards’ annual budgets and 5-year capital programs, while ensuring that these budgets meet the 50% recovery through system-generated revenues (fares, advertising, and concessions) mandated in the Regional Transportation Authority Act. GOVERNANCE HISTORY The Commuter Rail Service Board adopted the word Metra as a service mark for the entire system (short for Metropolitan Rail). (Continued on the next page) Metra bought the Illinois Central Gulf’s (ICG’s) electrifi ed commuter line and started operating it directly as the Metra Electric District. Metra also took over operation of the ICG line that is now known as the Heritage Corridor (the tracks are now owned by Canadian National). Service began at the new Route 59 station in Aurora on the Burlington Northern Railway. Metra took over operations on the Norfolk Southern Line and renamed it the SouthWest Service. Chicago and North Western merged with UPRR. Metra began operating the NCS, the fi rst new commuter rail line in Chicago in 70 years. An extension of the UP-W rail service was opened to Elburn, La Fox, and Geneva, Illinois. 1984 1987 1989 1993 1995 1996 2006 RTA created a commuter rail division. The Commuter Rail Service Board operated the two Milwaukee Road lines and the Rock Island lines directly, and entered into PSAs for other lines with ICG, Burlington Northern (now BNSF), Chicago and North Western (later merged into UPRR), and Norfolk Southern. 1983 Metra Metropolitan Rail Corporation Regional Transportation Authority Chicago, IL

40 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles CONTRACTED SERVICE Agreements between Metra and the Union Pacifi c Railroad (UPRR) or between Metra and the BNSF Railway handle 4 of 11 commuter rail lines: • Union Pacifi c North (UP-N) • Union Pacifi c Northwest (UP-NW) • Union Pacifi c West (UP-W) • BNSF Railway (BNSF) Metra contracts for and subsidizes the provision of commuter rail service by the two host railroads through purchase of service agreements (PSAs). This PSA approach was employed in 1983 when RTA created a commuter rail division. Under these agreements, the railroad companies provide the service using their own employees and either own or control the rights of way in addition to the majority of other facilities necessary, while Metra provides the rolling stock. Metra, with local municipalities, is responsible for most stations. The high level of freight traffi c on the rail lines creates a business circumstance, in which the freight service absorbs much of the cost of infrastructure maintenance, both operating and capital. Metra’s operating subsidiary, the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (NIRC), owns and/or operates 7 of 11 commuter rail lines: • Metra Electric District (ME). Metra owns the tracks and operates the trains for the ME, the only electric line in the Metra system. All major functions are the responsibility of Metra • Rock Island District (RI). Metra owns the tracks and operates the trains. All major functions are the responsibility of Metra • Milwaukee District–West (MD-W) and Milwaukee District–North (MD-N). Metra owns and operates the Milwaukee lines and is responsible for the infrastructure, but dispatching is performed by Canadian Pacifi c Railway • SouthWest Service (SWS). Metra operates the commuter rail service. Metra leases the route from the Norfolk Southern Railway, and the host railroad dispatches the service • Heritage Corridor (HC). Metra operates the service, but the tracks are owned by the Canadian National Railway Company (CN), and the host railroad dispatches the service • North Central Service (NCS). Metra operates the line on tracks owned by CN, and the host railroad dispatches the service The train dispatching and/or maintenance of infrastructure work performed by host railroads on these lines is governed by either trackage rights or access agreements. Voters in the six-county Chicago area approved creation of RTA. RTA took over commuter operations and eventually bought the tracks of the Milwaukee Road and Rock Island railroads. 1974 1982 (Continued from the previous page) General Contracted Service Informaon Directly Operated Service Informaon

Metra 41 Metra both operates its own services, as described previously, and provides oversight and management for the four lines where the two host railroads, UPRR and BNSF, provide commuter rail service. This unusual span of responsibilities makes Metra a unique, hybrid agency, both operating directly and contracting for operations of commuter rail. Each of the three service providers, Metra, UPRR, and BNSF, arranges for and oversees subcontractors on their rail lines. In a similar fashion, the three service operators jointly develop and implement resiliency planning and service recovery eff orts. In addition to developing its own capital program for its owned/operated lines, Metra works with both UPRR and BNSF to develop and implement multi-year capital plans and programs for the lines of the two host railroads. Because of the heavy levels of freight activity on these lines, cost sharing is a very prominent aspect of the capital programs with UPRR and BNSF. Metra handles all work related to reporting service, fi nancial, and safety data to the National Transit Database (NTD) and, as required, to the Federal Transit Administration. Each Metra operator (Metra, BNSF, and UPRR) is accountable for Federal Railroad Administration compliance for their respective line(s). PERFORMANCE STATISTICS Past Trends 2012–2016 Service Data in RY* 2016 Data source: NTD *Report year: for each report year, NTD collects data refl ecting the reporter’s operation in the same fi scal year. Annual Operating Cost: $722,591,592 Total Directional Route Miles: 975 Passenger Car Revenue Miles: 43,521,315 Unlinked Passenger Trips: 72,289,606 Annual Total Passenger Miles: 1,616,847,589 Operating Cost per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Operating Cost per Passenger Passenger Trips per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Passenger Miles per Passenger Trip $16.60$16.28$15.70$15.37$14.54 20162015201420132012 $10.00$9.73$9.12$9.02$8.45 20162015201420132012 1.661.671.721.701.72 20162015201420132012 22.3722.3622.4322.6322.65 20162015201420132012 Oversight and Responsibili es

42 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles A—Agency; B—Host Railroads (RRs); C—Amtrak; D—Independent Contractors (RR or Non-RR) The matrix below illustrates the responsibility for major service functions for Metra. The capital letters A and B represent the Metra in-house staff (NIRC), and the two host railroads (UPRR and BNSF), respectively. In this case, C for Amtrak and D for the independent contractor are not applicable. Contracted Service Matrix A B C D Train Operations Maintenance of Infrastructure Maintenance of Equipment Specifi cally: Train Dispatching Services Train Operations Maintenance of Equipment Facilities Maintenance Maintenance of Way Provision of Electric Traction Signals and Communication Positive Train Control Maintenance Station Operations and Maintenance Non-revenue Equipment Provision Safety Management Security Services Environmental Services Management/Oversight Services Materials Management Services Risk Management Assessment Customer Service Functions Marketing Communications Ticketing/Sales Revenue Collection Information Technology Systems Accident/Fatality Investigations/Support Supplemental Work Other (na)