A few years back I’d read that Metra was considering trying to develop service on the J as a means to connect all of the “spokes” of their current route, w/o having to go downtown to do so. Is that still alive?
If it is, it makes the J transaction w/ CN more interesting. If Metra can knock down the political hurdles required to get right of way and to develop double track, and to provide funding for the infrastructure improvements, then CN gets the benefit of that additional capacity on off-peak times.
That’s interesting good topic. I was wondering where the double track ends on the EJ&E. I know its double track at griffith ind. and at chicago hts. I was wondering were it begins and ends. thank you.
I think part of the plan of Metra’s proposed STAR Line calls for the ROW to be double-tracked between Joliet and O’Hare. With CN apparently planning to ramp-up traffic, it would have to be done to accommodate the STAR trains – which would run on a very tight schedule, with “meets” along the spoke Metra lines.
The 55-mile Suburban Transit Access Route, or STAR Line, would initially connect nearly 100 communities and enhance Metra’s hub-and-spoke system of rail passenger service by linking the spokes. It would be the first of its kind suburb-to-suburb commuter line extending from Joliet to O’Hare airport. The STAR Line would go beyond providing service to a single corridor or portion of the suburban area, but rather, connect the entire suburban community.
The STAR Line would allow for eventual seamless connection points to four existing Metra lines that feed the city of Chicago and the suburbs, including the North Central Service (NCS), Union Pacific West (UP-W), BNSF, and Milwaukee District West (MD-W) lines, marking a new day for inter-suburban transportation and giving motorists along congested roadways an alternative to driving.
Additionally, the service corridor of the proposed STAR Line, and the lines with which it would integrate, link the most populated areas in our region. Areas with major ho