The revised program now totals $251 million in projected spending. Metra will receive an $11.3 million increase in federal funds due to the recently passed Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.
Chicago Metra’s board of directors approved a $64.5 million addition to the agency’s 2016 capital program. Increases in the federal dollars made available to the rail agency as well as the award of a new federal grant, other new capital contributions and the transfer of funds from the 2015 operating budget are responsible for the positive changes to Metra’s capital budget.
The revised 2016 capital program now totals $251 million in projected spending. Metra will receive an $11.3 million increase in federal funds due to the recently passed Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. Metra also recently won a $14 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant to replace the Fox River Bridge on the Milwaukee West Line. The remainder of funds for the $34 million bridge project will be supplied through a reallocation of $14 million in existing RTA bond funds and a $6 million contribution from Canadian Pacific Railway.
“The Fox River Bridge Project will improve Metra’s reliability and operational flexibility, reduce maintenance costs and help ensure the continued efficient operation of the Chicago region’s rail network,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “We anticipate completing final design of the bridge this year, with construction starting in 2017 and continuing through late 2018.”
The revision to the 2016 capital program also included an additional $12 million leftover from the 2015 operating budget to continue the purchase of new or rehabilitate existing railcars and locomotives as part of Metra’s $2.4 billion modernization program. The 10-year modernization program includes the purchase of 367 new railcars, 455 rehabilitated railcars, 52 new locomotives and 85 rebuilt locomotives, investments in Positive Train Control and improvements to the 49th Street Yard to increase the number of cars that can be rehabilitated there annually.
In 2015, Metra completed the rehabilitation of 32 railcars. In 2016, the agency plans to rehabilitate 40 railcars and begin upgrading eight locomotives in-house, with 10 more to be rehabilitated by a contracted vendor. Metra anticipates the first new railcars will start arriving in 2018 and new locomotives after 2020.
Company officials said that this latest contract extension with Metrolinx consolidates the company’s position as the leading private provider of Operations and maintenance services in North America.
The new cars, model R262, will be funded by the MTA’s 2025-29 Capital Plan, which received a historic $68 billion in funding from Governor Hochul and the State Legislature in the FY26 Enacted State Budget.
Amtrak will open grant applications March 23 for community projects near the Frederick Douglass Tunnel alignment in Baltimore as part of a $50 million investment tied to the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program.
The Denmark Station $2.3 million construction investment project includes a new 280-foot concrete boarding platform, built eight inches above the top of rail, for improved accessibility for passengers with disabilities and families with small children and much more.
Caltrain and its partners have implemented safety improvements at specific locations in response to known risk conditions, operational needs, and available funding since the agency’s founding.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
Competitive FTA grants will support accessibility upgrades, family-friendly improvements, and cost-efficient capital projects at some of the nation’s oldest and busiest transit hubs.
The 3.92-mile addition will soon take riders west beyond its current Wilshire and Western station in Koreatown, continuing under Wilshire Boulevard through neighborhoods and communities including Hancock Park, Windsor Square, the Fairfax District, and Carthay Circle into Beverly Hills.
