Metra’s Self-Propelling Trains
Metra announced that they are receiving a $169.3 million grant from the Federal government to buy zero-emission trainsets. The agency is receiving the grant due to a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program. This is a government-instated program that’s purpose is to provide funding for “local governments, and transit agencies for projects and programs that help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act by reducing mobile source emissions and regional congestion on transportation networks.” This will be the largest grant the agency has received to date.
They will be adding zero-emission trainsets. A trainset is “a group of permanently coupled railcars powered by a propulsion system without a separate locomotive.” Trainsets also have operator controls in the front and the back. Metra will use them to replace the diesel-run locomotives that are “beyond their replacement.”
The company plans on using the grant to buy up to 16 of these trainsets. The CEO of Metra, Jim Derwinski, expressed in a statement that the agency believes it won’t only help environmentally but also noise reduction benefits, energy consumption saving, “as well as better efficiency, flexibility, and reliability.”
It is unclear when the agency will put the new trains into service, but it most likely will put them on the Rock Island Line. The agency will do this to reduce air pollution effects on the South Side.
Another Grant
This isn’t the only grant that the agency has received this year. The Metra agency also received a $2.88 million grant. The government provided the grant to fix rails on the BNSF railway. The BNSF railway is a West Cook County rail.
Last year, 62 people trespassed on these tracks and have been hit by a train. Some of the grant money will be put to more than 18,000 feet of fencing that will cover 18 roadway crossings from Berwyn to LaGrange. Metra will use some of this money to close up gaps in the fencing.
Metra chose this area to do the new construction since the BNSF is one of their busier lines. About 91 trains go through this railway daily.
Written by AriAnna Rathers
Sources:
NBC Chicago: Metra receives largest-ever grant to purchase zero-emission trainsets
Chicago Sun Times: Metra to buy zero-emission, self-propelled rail cars with $169.3M federal grant
CBS: Metra’s BNSF railway receives grant for additional safety
Alternative Fuels Data Center– Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Eric Allix Rogers’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of rosefirerising’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
