Metra Extra/Modified Schedules

To get an idea of what its like on the Rock during the parade, take a look:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katherineo ... 362848399/

It wasn't the South Side Irish Parade but I remember a similar video airing on local tv outlets of a fight that broke out on an RI train several years ago after the July 3rd fireworks. But after viewing this St. Pat's is a lot worse when compared to Independence Day.

oh, that's my video, thanks for the link, this finally got me to start an account here. I've only been to the parade twice, taking the train from LaSalle both times; both times there were already lots of beer cans around at 10 am. last year I didn't take the train back, so I didn't realize there were extra trains in the afternoon, or that the one I boarded would be so crowded it'd go express to the Loop. I could have predicted there'd be plenty of drunk idiots aboard, though...thankfully we got on at Prairie St. when the train was empty, and I finally got a few shots of the yard there...

Metra has posted extra schedules for Friday... calling it "Get-Away Service", wonder if that name will stick. Schedules look pretty typical. One change I noticed is on RI. Metra can't seem to make up thier mind about where to run the express, it used to always be a Tinley express... last year that changed to Blue Island... and now to Midlothian. I guess one thing they like is the departure time, always being at 3:40p.

Another thing I've noticed is that on UP/W, none of the extras are making the Elburn stop; it wasn't included during last winter's holiday schedule either. So if someone wants to actually go that far, they're going to make them ride the local? What's up with that?

Metra has posted all the schedule changes for the 2nd, 3rd, and additional service during the taste. The inbound July 3rd service for Fireworks seems a lot less from a few years back... seems typical for a train an hour with this years changes. SWS and RI schedules are the same as last year. On RI I still can't figure out how there are more extra outbound trains after the fireworks vs. inbound before. I don't see why Metra would run deadheads into LaSalle on the 3rd of all days, the '06 and '07 schedules had the same number of outbound trains, however a lot more inbound service was run. Go figure.

Unless its just me, it appears there is more service on the BNSF for this year's July 3 when compared to previous years. The 9400 series trains are the extras and converted deadhead-to-revenue runs. The 9500 series are regularly scheduled trains with station stop modifications and/or schedule shifts to account for heavier boardings and prevent late turn of equipment delays.

I noticed there are no extra trains on July 4 outside of the regularly scheduled Saturday express trains.

There was discussion on this last year but when Taste of Chicago is ongoing, several towns along the BNSF also hold festivals at the same time (Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville) which can significantly add to ridership, whether people go suburb-to-suburb or come from the city.

http://metrarail.com/Special_Promotions ... xtras.html
Has all the other modifications for BNSF. Don't forget, the 4th is a Sunday schedule.

The 3rd schedule for BNSF is the same as last year, believe it or not. Only change I can find is 9413 ends at Fairview vs. Main as it did last year. Other than that, everything is essentially the same.

Ah, didn't see that July 4 goes off the Sunday schedule even though its on Saturday. I would not be surprised if extra unadvertised express trains are added. But I won't bet on it. I remember one extra express train was annulled last year on July 6 and the end result was the following 8 car local being SRO all the way to Naperville.

Note the extra service on Saturdays during the Taste on the Milwaukee North & West, don't recall seeing that last year. But even though the service is pretty much the same as last year on UP, there have been a few minor adjustments made to the supplemental service on 7/3, with some extras leaving a bit earlier or later, or concentrating service with 3 or 4 inbound trains within a 30-45 min. window. Lessons learned from years past, perhaps?

Metra has added more adjustments for Saturday July 4th. There are some unusual changes, UP has added quite a lot of extra service and SWS is running on a modified Saturday schedule. Also, if you take a look at MD-N's posted schedule... looks like Metra accidently posted the employee schedule, as trains don't stop at Rondout

System wide, that's some pretty beefed up service planned for 7/4, and the 8 extras for UP/W will make 26 total trains, almost BNSF like! Since the Geneva sub sees very little freight traffic on holidays, most of those trains should pretty much have the railroad to themselves. Also, about that SW extra, which departs at 9am: Maybe they ought to make that permanent, I've always thought the first Saturday inbound is a bit early. And as a side note, Metra posted this information last Friday, (6/19) a full two weeks in advance, I've never known them to do that so early...

metraRI wrote:Also, if you take a look at MD-N's posted schedule... looks like Metra accidently posted the employee schedule, as trains don't stop at Rondout

They don't stop at "CN Crossing" either But it looks like the webmaster got his links mixed up, I pulled up the MD/N page while clicking on the the link for UP/N extra service. Hopefully it'll be fixed in a day or two...

I like how they added and extra train to and from Kenosha on UP North(departs Kenosha at 949am, 135pm ALL the WAY to Kenosha). They ought to make this permanent.

The extra train at 8:30pm on Friday June 26 on BNSF is perfect for those wishing to go to the Downers Grove Heritage Festival, as the train gets in to Main Street at 8:53pm with the festival going on on both sides of the BNSF main between Washington Street on the east and Forest Ave on the west. It also gives patrons about two hours to attend the festivities.

On a side note, the D.G. Heritage Festival weekend makes for some great railfanning opportunities, since engineers love to blow the horns passing through town. Its a great 3 day horn show.

Venetian night extras this weekend...