Launch Date For Metra's Reverse-Commute Pilot Schedule Announced

CHICAGO — Metra's new reverse-commute pilot project will launch March 5 on the Milwaukee District North Line. Aimed at those that work in Lake County and live in Chicago, it will add a weekday rush hour express train to Lake Cook Road, Deerfield and Lake Forest stations in the morning and another from Lake Forest to Union Station in the evening, Metra said Wednesday.

The test is being funded through a public-private partnership involving local villages and major Lake County employers. The groups will evenly split the $1.4 million cost of the two additional trains over the two years of the pilot.

Businesses hope the new service will help recruit and retain top talent. Several area corporations have relocated some or all of their employees into Chicago in recent years citing challenges attracting employees to come work in north suburban office parks.

“With this new service, it is now easy to live downtown and work in Lake County,” said Kevin Considine, president and CEO of the nonprofit economic development corporation Lake County Partners. “This is a tremendous opportunity for city dwellers to build careers at any of our globally recognized companies.”

Metra does not currently offer any morning outbound express trains, and it said its afternoon trains are scheduled to depart too early or too late for most area workers.

Metra Chairman Norm Carlson said local businesses, Lake County and Chicago all benefit from the service.

"Working with the private sector to achieve their employment goals by attracting talented young people who desire to live in Chicago is a win-win-win situation," Carlson said, announcing the launch. “Public assets and operating funds are leveraged by private investment to enhance rail service that is a green solution. We look at this partnership as being a prototype for future expansions of Metra’s service to benefit the public. This is regional cooperation at its finest.”

Initially, the new schedule will add an outbound express train departing Union Station at 6:26 a.m. and arriving in Lake Forest at 7:15 a.m. Train No. 2191 will make local stops in Chicago up to Edgebrook before switching to express through north Cook County to the Lake Cook Road station, according to Metra.

In the near future, the morning train will be moved to an earlier spot — leaving Union station at 5:35 a.m. and arriving in Lake Forest at 6:25 a.m. — when a pending agreement with Canadian Pacific railroad in finalized.

The evening train, No. 2194, will depart Lake Forest at 5:35 p.m. and arrive at Union Station at 6:26 p.m.

Several other trains will see their schedules adjusted to relieve crowding, with an additional morning inbound train leaving Lake Forest at 7:48 a.m. and, after the pending agreement with Canadian Pacific, a new outbound train leaving Union Station at 3:20 p.m. (Read the full new schedule.)

Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski said he was excited to launch the test.

“We are hopeful that this initiative will build our ridership, help local businesses to recruit top talent and have a positive impact on economic activity in Lake County," Dewinski said. "This partnership also is an innovative way to test the demand for service to Lake County and potentially improve our infrastructure.”

The service is being supported by several major businesses, Lake County Partners and the municipalities of Bannockburn, Deerfield and Lake Forest.

Metra is covering half the cost of the two-year pilot program, with the remainder covered by local government and private sector partners. Lake Forest, Deerfield, Lake County government, as well as Abbvie, Horizon Pharma, Trustmark Insurance, Tenneco and Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital are all participating in the agreement, according to Metra.

Lake Forest and Lake County Partners are each set to kick in $100,000 for the two years. In December, Deerfield agreed to pay $20,000 over the period, Pioneer Press reported. The pilot was announced in October and had been due to begin in January, but installation and testing of insulation around some of the tracks in the area delayed the launch.

Metra said the pilot program's backers have agreed to enter into an agreement to pay for new universal crossovers near the Lake Forest station if the results of the pilot program demonstrate there is strong enough demand to support a self-sustaining service.

Such a crossover switch would allow trains to turn around in Lake Forest to improve rush hour service, according to Metra. The universal crossover installation would cost an estimated $4.75 million, with Lake County Partners covering $2.75 million, local governments chipping in $1 million and Metra covering the remaining $1 million.

Lake Forest plans to to provide about $400,000 of the installation price tag and would work with local corporations to help cover the cost, according to a release. City officials have been exploring ways to improve commuter service on the MD-N line at the west Lake Forest station ever since the introduction of the "Sunrise Express" reverse commuter train on the Union Pacific-North line to the east Lake Forest station in 2004.

“Lake Forest is very pleased with the new schedule enhancements as they benefit citizens and local employers, including our health and educational institutions," said Mayor Robert Lansing. "Hats off to the Metra leadership team for their energetic, innovative efforts to add service to West Lake Forest to meet the growth in demand being experienced. With successful completion of the pilot studies related to these schedule enhancements, further schedule and service improvements are possible."

Read more: Metra Pilot Program Tests Reverse-Commute Service On MD-N Line