Railguy Posted September 8, 2022 Report Share Posted September 8, 2022 Thanks. Wonder How long will this go on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted October 18, 2022 Report Share Posted October 18, 2022 New budget allocates funds for Metra to assume control of the UP lines in 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted October 18, 2022 Report Share Posted October 18, 2022 info on what will happen with the workers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted October 18, 2022 Report Share Posted October 18, 2022 15 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said: New budget allocates funds for Metra to assume control of the UP lines in 2023 The only thing actually in the budget document (as opposed to the implications in the twitterverse) is on page 30: I assume PSA means purchase of service agreement, but I'm not seeing anything about buying out the lines; in fact, there are allocations to UP and BNSF for maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 Correspondence was sent out on Friday that integrations have begun and look for UP people to come over in all crafts. The Metra website shows they are looking for Trainmaster and Road Formen for the UP lines. I am told that is the first thing in the process. I still think Metra’s desire for this is more than they can handle and also that there won’t be an exodus of people from UP to Metra like they think. Maybe why they feel the need to hire gobs and gobs of people…and Lord knows there are gobs and gobs of students out there. UP will still own and control their tracks, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 1 hour ago, trainman8119 said: UP will still own and control their tracks, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Looking over a search for "Metra" in Trains Magazine, that's correct, although it's not clear what entity would own the stations. Also, it appears that Metra lost in the courts, so it had to "get off the pot." The arrangement described in Trains is: Quote The freight railroad says it seeks an “mututally beneficial service agreement” under which Metra would operate the service “and take on the Union Pacific employees who currently perform these duties,” while UP would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way and dispatch the route. It notes that this would bring the Metra service into alignment with other commuter rail operators on its system. UP also says this would be similar to services operated on the Milwaukee North line, which is Metra-owned but shared with and dispatched by Canadian Pacific, and the SouthWest Service, which Metra leases from Norfolk Southern, which continues to dispatch the route. Actually it would be similar to the "Service"s (SWS NCS), rather than the "District"s (Milw, RI, ME), as Metra wouldn't own it. I'm surprised that UP doesn't want to unload the tracks, at least on the UPN and UPNW lines. Here, about the only cost is the administrative personnel you mentioned, and I'm sure UP was charging Metra for similar overhead, so it might not have made sense for Metra to have been fighting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 22, 2023 Report Share Posted January 22, 2023 Also, from the January, 2023 Quarterly Report of Rail Agreements: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 24, 2023 Report Share Posted January 24, 2023 Since this seems a certainty, any surmises about renaming the lines? My guess would be North Service, Northwest Service and West Service (analogous to NCS and SWS). The reason I brought this up was that I was surprised that Metra was in a big hurry to change its schedules from C&NW to UP, until I found out that UP was operating it. Not for much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 4 hours ago, Busjack said: Since this seems a certainty, any surmises about renaming the lines? My guess would be North Service, Northwest Service and West Service (analogous to NCS and SWS). The reason I brought this up was that I was surprised that Metra was in a big hurry to change its schedules from C&NW to UP, until I found out that UP was operating it. Not for much longer. I would probably go with North Shore Service. NOrtheest Service and West Service, to differentiate North Shore from MD North Line a and North Central Service. I might prefer Far West Service to differentiate from the MDW. Fortunately for now BNSF is still under a POS agreement though if they go this way it could be renamed the Burlington Line. Is there a slight chance that the UPines retain their names since they run on tracks still owned by the UP? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 35 minutes ago, artthouwill said: Is there a slight chance that the UPines retain their names since they run on tracks still owned by the UP? Anything is possible at this point; I was just speculating, but the NCS isn't called the Wisconsin Central (owner when the project started) or CN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 39 minutes ago, Busjack said: Anything is possible at this point; I was just speculating, but the NCS isn't called the Wisconsin Central (owner when the project started) or CN. True, but Milwaukee was retained from the Milwaukee Road as well as the Rock Island name retained. It will be interesting to if a name change occurs and what that will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 9 hours ago, artthouwill said: I would probably go with North Shore Service. NOrtheest Service and West Service, to differentiate North Shore from MD North Line a and North Central Service. I might prefer Far West Service to differentiate from the MDW. Fortunately for now BNSF is still under a POS agreement though if they go this way it could be renamed the Burlington Line. Is there a slight chance that the UPines retain their names since they run on tracks still owned by the UP? I'd rather they went back to their original names: Milwaukee Division Wisconsin Division Galena Division Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 25, 2023 Report Share Posted January 25, 2023 2 hours ago, strictures said: I'd rather they went back to their original names: Milwaukee Division Wisconsin Division Galena Division Milwaukee Division would be too confusing with Milwaukee District. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 On 1/25/2023 at 8:34 AM, Busjack said: Milwaukee Division would be too confusing with Milwaukee District. It never got confused with the Milwaukee Road Lines decades ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 29, 2023 Report Share Posted January 29, 2023 34 minutes ago, strictures said: It never got confused with the Milwaukee Road Lines decades ago. They were always known prior to 1995 as the C&NW. 1800s railroad nomenclature doesn't count today, and I doubt was ever known by the commuting public. As far as current commuters know, there are already Milwaukee N and W lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted June 14, 2023 Report Share Posted June 14, 2023 On 1/22/2023 at 4:43 PM, Busjack said: Also, from the January, 2023 Quarterly Report of Rail Agreements: Apparently missed by us was this Trains article that the transistion to Metra is well underway. The Metra Quarterly Report of Rail Agreements reflects several short-term agreements to extend the agreement with UP, as well as "PSA governing CRD's assignment to NIRC to operate commuter service on the Union Pacific‐owned districts. Effective date is to be determined, pending finalization of the requisite agreements with Union Pacific." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Summer My Metra Magazine (page 6) describes what is involved in the transfer of UP operations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railguy Posted November 6, 2023 Report Share Posted November 6, 2023 Should be getting close to full Metra controlled operations? Metra had article in their newsletter by end of year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 On 1/24/2023 at 8:54 PM, Busjack said: Anything is possible at this point; I was just speculating, but the NCS isn't called the Wisconsin Central (owner when the project started) or CN. They are bing referred to as “The UP District”, similar to the Rock Island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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