Chicago's Metra completes charging station installation
To further enhance the agency’s customer connectivity options, Metra will also be installing free Wi-Fi in the waiting areas of downtown stations within 45 days, and it recently announced plans to test Wi-Fi on 11 cars systemwide before January 2016.
Chicago's Metra has completed installation of charging stations at four of its downtown stations.
Charging stations are now available in the waiting areas at Millennium Station, Van Buren Street Station, LaSalle Street Station and the Ogilvie Transportation Center, and in the lower suburban concourse at Ogilvie near the Metra Market, providing Metra customers with a convenient and free place to recharge electronic mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops. Metra also anticipates installing a charging station in the coming months in its ticketing area at Chicago Union.
Ad Loading...
“Making the right capital investments so that riders have access to technology is a good business decision for Metra. Our riders have told us that access to their electronic devices is important and we were able to respond to their needs by adding this amenity to our downtown stations,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno said. “Listening to our customers and responding whenever feasible helps us attract and retain the riders we need to keep ticket revenues up and fare increases down.”
The charging stations were fabricated using manpower and resources from Metra’s rail yard shops at an estimated cost of $6,000 to $7,000 for all station installations.
To further enhance the agency’s customer connectivity options, Metra will also be installing free Wi-Fi in the waiting areas of downtown stations within 45 days, and it recently announced plans to test Wi-Fi on 11 cars systemwide before January 2016.
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.
Under the plan, all long-distance routes will transition to a universal single-level fleet, replacing today’s mix of bi-level and single-level equipment.
