most commuters on Metra/BNSF Line

Unless you're willing to contact the kind folks at 500 W. Jackson (aka Metra HQ), and request the information personally, a question like that is impossible to answer here. But you'd be surpised just how close you can get to the answer if you simply apply the following logic, a lesson given in three easy steps:

11-car express trains between Naperville and Chicago are the norm during rush hour, correct?

Each car has a seating capacity of approx. 140 passengers. But remember, these trains often run SRO (that's standing room only), so let's tack on oh, say an additonal 15 passengers or so as standees in the aisle or vestibule, which gives us a grand total of 155 passengers per car. Please note this is an AVERAGE figure, every car won't have PRECISELY that many. As I explained before, trying to nail this down with perfect accuracy is virtually impossible simply because of variables that are caused by changing conditions. Which means that even if your original question could be answered, there's no guarantee that you'd get the same answer tomorrow, or the following day. Therefore, a ballpark estimate is going to be as good as it gets most of the time.

With that out of the way, let's now multiply our average figure of 155 people per car times 11. Do the math, connect the dots, and there ya go...

Speaking of BNSF's 11 car sets... which morning trains run with 11 cars? I am still amazed at how BNSF can fill three 11 car sets at only 2 stops. Is BNSF the only line with 11 cars? I thought UP-NW ran an 11 car set, but I have never actually seen 11 cars on UP.

On the Friday before Christmas, I talked with a BNSF conductor that is on one of the 11 car trainsets and gathered some interesting info...

An 11 car train at full capacity carries approx 1,650 passengers.

During the morning rush, trains 1228, 1236, and 1242 utilize 11 car sets. They are usually at 95-98% capacity.

11 cars will not fit the platforms at D.G., Belmont, and Lisle. An 11 car set was used for two of the special D.G. expresses on the Friday before Christmas and New Years and those in the rear car had to move up one car to get off.

The shortest Naperville express is 7 cars and train 1208 uses this set. I have seen many open seats at times on this train.

The two afternoon CUS departures that run to peak capacity is 1243 (1558, 10 cars) and 1267 (1722, 11 cars).

metraRI wrote:Is BNSF the only line with 11 cars? I thought UP-NW ran an 11 car set, but I have never actually seen 11 cars on UP.

An 11-car set is normally assigned to UP/NW train 647 to Harvard, and its morning counterpart, 620. On Fridays, this train will run with an extra cab car or two about five or six cars deep in the consist so that the set can be broken up at Harvard for additional weekend trips, usually beginning with 716, the 11:35am from Harvard on Saturdays...

It's interesting to note that of Metra's eight full-service lines, four of them, (UP/N, UP/W, MILW/N, and MED) don't have at least one regularly scheduled 10-car rush hour train. A 10-car set was recently added to MILW/W, can't remember the train numbers offhand, it's archived here in the forum somewhere. Kyle, I thought I recalled you mentioning something about a 10-car set assigned to the Rock... if so, what trains are they assigned to?

RI's 10 car set is used on train #408 during the morning rush (arrives into LaSalle at 7:44) and on train #409 during the evening rush (departs LaSalle at 4:35). The set is also used on weekends with 6 cars, as the rear 4 are cut at Joliet.

Other than that 10 car set, RI has five 9 car sets and two 8 car sets stored in Joliet.

It is truly amazing how many passengers get on and off at Route 59, Naperville and now Aurora. They're all migrating further west. Aurora is building another parking lot this spring.

asc99yhs wrote:It is truly amazing how many passengers get on and off at Route 59, Naperville and now Aurora. They're all migrating further west. Aurora is building another parking lot this spring.

Even more impressive is the way the evening 11-car trains fill up, despite only making TWO stops. But, another parking lot in Aurora? Unless it's a remote lot served by a shuttle, I can't possibly imagine how the city could squeeze in more parking within walking distance of the depot. With the current lots, Walter Payton's resturant, plus the BNSF freight mains immediately to the south, and such, that area is pretty much built-out to the max. Hopefully, it'll be more of a multi-level garage, with than just a regular lot, since space is at a premium...

doepack wrote:Even more impressive is the way the evening 11-car trains fill up, despite only making TWO stops. But, another parking lot in Aurora? Unless it's a remote lot served by a shuttle, I can't possibly imagine how the city could squeeze in more parking within walking distance of the depot. With the current lots, Walter Payton's resturant, plus the BNSF freight mains immediately to the south, and such, that area is pretty much built-out to the max. Hopefully, it'll be more of a multi-level garage, with than just a regular lot, since space is at a premium...

One reason that there are more people riding to Auora is that Pace had started a new rush hour bus route (Route 907) thats goes from Aurora Metra to a Park and ride lot in Oswego. At first they use 12 to 15 seat vans, but ridership rapidly incresed to the point that they had started to use regular 35- 40 seat buses on all those trips. This is just like how they have park & ride shuttles in the Downers Grove Area.

doepack wrote:Even more impressive is the way the evening 11-car trains fill up, despite only making TWO stops. But, another parking lot in Aurora? Unless it's a remote lot served by a shuttle, I can't possibly imagine how the city could squeeze in more parking within walking distance of the depot. With the current lots, Walter Payton's resturant, plus the BNSF freight mains immediately to the south, and such, that area is pretty much built-out to the max. Hopefully, it'll be more of a multi-level garage, with than just a regular lot, since space is at a premium...

One reason that there are more people riding to Auora is that Pace had started a new rush hour bus route (Route 907) thats goes from Aurora Metra to a Park and ride lot in Oswego. At first they use 12 to 15 seat vans, but ridership rapidly incresed to the point that they had started to use regular 35- 40 seat buses on all those trips. This is just like how they have park & ride shuttles in the Downers Grove Area.

doepack wrote:Even more impressive is the way the evening 11-car trains fill up, despite only making TWO stops. But, another parking lot in Aurora? Unless it's a remote lot served by a shuttle, I can't possibly imagine how the city could squeeze in more parking within walking distance of the depot. With the current lots, Walter Payton's resturant, plus the BNSF freight mains immediately to the south, and such, that area is pretty much built-out to the max. Hopefully, it'll be more of a multi-level garage, with than just a regular lot, since space is at a premium...

No parking garage. Another lot opposite the mains to the south, adjacent to where the tunnel under the mains is. They are shooting for another 200 spaces this spring. A lot of Oswego people and Plainfield people are getting on at Aurora to avoid the hassle at Route 59. Get on at Aurora, always get a seat.

asc99yhs wrote:No parking garage. Another lot opposite the mains to the south, adjacent to where the tunnel under the mains is. They are shooting for another 200 spaces this spring. A lot of Oswego people and Plainfield people are getting on at Aurora to avoid the hassle at Route 59. Get on at Aurora, always get a seat.

Just 200 extra spaces? With the kind of growth going on in that area, that's a drop in the bucket. Should have no problem filling that lot up...

I wonder how many Plainfield residents use the Lockport station on HC? It's a lot closer than Aurora, and while travel time on the train is about 15 min. longer, it's still pretty much a wash since commuters would be spending at least that long driving to Aurora anyway. But I'm sure the HC option would be even more appealing if there were more than 6 trains a day...

You can get this information at the RTA statistics website. I don't have it handy, so you'll have to search. And you have to sign up, which you can do by giving them an e-mail address to get a password. But it's got loads of information.

ne plus ultra wrote:You can get this information at the RTA statistics website. I don't have it handy, so you'll have to search. And you have to sign up, which you can do by giving them an e-mail address to get a password. But it's got loads of information.

I believe you are refering to RTAMS;

http://www.rtams.org/ui/homepage.asp