Metra taking over UP operations?

[Busjack]

Shouldn't this have happened by now (Apr. 16 date noted above)? Any word?

[Busjack]

Evanston Now says the turnover happened last Friday.

UPDATE: Metra announcement, found via Trains Magazine.

[strictures]

21 hours ago, Busjack said:

Evanston Now says the turnover happened last Friday.

UPDATE: Metra announcement, found via Trains Magazine.

If the UP will still own the tracks, how come the actual rails I see at Rogers Park made by Bethlehem Steel in 1995 say "Metra" on them?  Obviously, Metra paid for the rails 30 years ago, so exactly who owns them now?

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, strictures said:

If the UP will still own the tracks, how come the actual rails I see at Rogers Park made by Bethlehem Steel in 1995 say "Metra" on them?  Obviously, Metra paid for the rails 30 years ago, so exactly who owns them now?

All of that has to do with Rail Agreements, such as the last summary here, which govern relationships between Metra and the other railroads. As pointed out in Trains:

Quote

The quiet operating handoff belied an oft-contentious and litigious changeover process that is still ongoing. Because the two sides have been unable to agree on financial terms for Metra operation on UP’s tracks, the commuter operator has asked the STB to award it terminal trackage rights ensuring it retains access to the UP routes beyond the current contract expiring on June 30. [See “Metra asks STB to require …,” News Wire, March 7, 2025.]

If you want to read the filing, see here.

Clearly, since UP does not run freight on the North line south of about Lake Bluff. it would not have maintained the tracks any better than the CNS&M south of Lake-Cook unless Metra paid for it. Similarly, NICTD is paying for the expansion on Metra property into Millennium station, and Metra paid to rebuild the WC, even though CN is giving it garbage about expanding trackage rights (which is a separate issue).

Of course, "Metra" and :NICTD" mean federal and state money. The state is paying to upgrade the Rockford line, but doesn't own it.

I suppose it could be argued whether it would be cheaper to buy the commuter lines instead of renting them, but that apparently wasn't considered. There's also the issue of the stations, which still say C&NW on them.

[Busjack]

In connection with the above, the filing says:

Quote

In particular, Metra and UP have entered into Fixed Facility Agreements (“FFAs”) to govern Metra’s capital investment in the lines. The FFAs provide a legal framework for Metra to invest public-sector capital funds into UP’s private system, i.e., to spend federal, state, and other grant funds on capital projects that in part also benefit UP’s for-profit freight operations.

...

Under the FFAs, Metra has invested approximately $1.25 billion in capital improvements and expansions as of December 31, 2024, to sustain the right-of-way and related commuter facilities on UP’s system. Metra also pays UP for miscellaneous maintenance and other expenses and services, such as dispatching and snow removal, on a cost or cost-plus basis, again based on Metra’s proportionate PSA usage.

 

[strictures]

9 hours ago, Busjack said:

Clearly, since UP does not run freight on the North line south of about Lake Bluff.

There is some very minor freight traffic out of the North Ave yard, although one siding & line that went east at Bloomingdale Ave has been removed, but there are still two factories on the West side of Elston, between Elston & the right of way that maintain their sidings & the switches & dwarf signals are still operating..

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, strictures said:

There is some very minor freight traffic out of the North Ave yard, although one siding & line that went east at Bloomingdale Ave has been removed, but there are still two factories on the West side of Elston, between Elston & the right of way that maintain their sidings & the switches & dwarf signals are still operating..

That could be done on a contract basis, and is 99.44%  irrelevant to your initial question on why there was Metra material on UP property, which I assume I answered adequately. As the filing pointed out, only potential interference with UP freight operations is on the West line.