Squeaky wheels win one

Squeaky wheels win one
Metra tweaks N. Central times to address commuter complaints
Originally published Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006

By Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writer

Starting Monday, Metra will add the express trains to the North Central Line that commuters have been asking for since an expansion of the service earlier this year.
At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, announced Metra will split one of its morning inbound trains and one evening outbound train to make two express trains going each way during the week.
The four trains will make alternating stops to and from Chicago to offer a quicker commute.
One train in the morning, for example, will leave Antioch at 6:45 a.m. It will stop in Round Lake Beach, Prairie Crossing, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Prospect Heights and O'Hare and end at Chicago's Union Station at 8:11 a.m.
The second express will leave Lake Villa at 6:44 a.m. and stop in Grayslake, Mundelein, Prairie View, Wheeling and O'Hare before getting to Chicago at 8:03 a.m.
The other nine inbound and outbound trains largely will keep their current schedules.
Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said the 6:28 a.m. inbound train and the 5 p.m. outbound train were chosen for the split because they account for a large number of commuters.
Kirk said that for Buffalo Grove residents, an inbound express train saves 9 minutes and the outbound train saves 5 minutes.
"It's almost 80 hours a year saved in commuting time," he said.
Buffalo Grove has a vested interest in improving the North Central Line commute because increased use of the train line will mean an increase in economic development for the village.
"This is clearly an asset for our community," Village President Elliott Harstein said of the express lines.
But Buffalo Grove Trustee Jeff Berman said that while the express trains are a step in the right direction, he would like to see more changes from Metra.
"We need to make sure that this is not the end of the process," he said. "We all benefit when we get cars off the road."
Berman has been an outspoken critic of the double-tracking expansion of the line since the new schedule made its debut in January.
Other Buffalo Grove residents have also made their voices heard through two forums held by Kirk and state Rep. Sid Mathias, a Buffalo Grove Republican.
Residents have said the changes in the schedule have made the trains less convenient and have actually increased commutes.
Berman said Metra originally promised 22 trains but delivered only 19, since he doesn't consider one of the trains on the line an addition because it doesn't travel through most of the towns on the line.
Riders also have continued their complaints of trains not running on schedule, which adds to their commute times.
"I will not stop advocating on behalf of the commuters," Berman said. "This is a good start; I look forward to the next step."
Metra and Canadian National Railroad officials said additional trains could be added; an announcement on that could come at the end of October.
"We want to look especially at the 5:31 train, a critical train," Kirk said, since many commuters also make their way home around that time.