Metra is getting Battery FLIRT Trains!!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- Somewhere in a quiet, southern Chicago neighborhood, lies an unusual railroad track. Running in between parks and houses, the Metra Rock Island Beverly Branch sees relatively frequent suburban service. Trains run from Blue Island up to LaSalle Street Station in downtown Chicago. The most interesting feature of this line, which opened in stages between 1870 and 1899, is the fact that every single station is located exactly 4 blocks apart. Though currently served by regular diesel Metra trains, in the future, Metra will run their dedicated battery-electric trains built by Stadler on this unique branch.
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Date of filming: November 20, 2023
Camera: iPhone 12
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:04 Tour of LaSalle Street Station
2:01 Rock Island District: Basic Info
2:52 Gallery Cars
3:38 Departure
4:22 History of the Rock Island
5:16 History of the Beverly Branch
8:26 103rd St Station
10:24 Walking to 107th St Station
13:17 Walking to 111th St Station
13:42 Walking to 115th St Station
14:11 Isn't it strange?
15:33 Introducing the FLIRT
17:00 Advantages of the FLIRT
18:03 Addressing some concerns
20:02 Taking the bus to Blue Island
20:41 Blue Island Vermont St Station - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Fun Fact: The BEMU Flirts can easily be converted to traditional EMUs whenever Metra actually Electrifys
That’s a good point
Given they charge with OCS and the standard option from stadler is to just use 15 or 25kv overhead I doubt they will need any work. Furrer+Frey so far has made the charger units in Europe and it would be interesting to see if they could scale it up to a modular little traction power station capable of wring up 10 or so miles
Now that's smart engineering!
@ey420Well if the line ever got electrified (call me skeptical but things have a habit of never getting done in Chicago) they would need to remove the battery packs for safety purposes. A train with probably 20+ tons of Lithium batteries just sounds like a death trap as it is assuming they use the cheapest, Chinese batteries they can find, and this being America that is exactly what Stadler will do.
Sorry.. battery train .. mistake !
The real boon for these stop and go routes is dynamic braking into the battery bank to try to recover as much of the energy they put into getting up to speed. A small diesel would also make sense to trickle charge the battery bank (range extension) and provide heat for climate control in the winters.
Until snow clogs the cooling vents and battery go boom. The thought of a US rail operator, especially one known for neglecting its equipment like Metra running trains with probably 50,000lbs of lithium batteries on board just scares me.
Adding a diesel would just add unneeded complexity - it is better just to match the battery size and charging infrastructure to handle Chicago winter + enough extra to mitigate any unexpected charging failures. Given the length of the line it shouldn't be an issue.
@@Blackburnian737 Buffalo's transit provider bought Battery Electric Buses with the optional diesel heater for the passenger compartment and battery compartment. These have worked out extremely well. Unlike nearby Rochester, the Buffalo buses are able to complete regular runs. Sure, a little more complexity, and the buses can't claim zero emissions, but the heating system works great and pollutes only a tiny bit.
@@citizensforregionaltransit2681Burning diesel for heat (or natural gas) probably makes more sense than burning it for motion.
it’s always an interesting lottery for which seats a metra car is gonna have lol
Suburban electric express! Oh Thom!
My apologies
This made me laugh out loud. XD
None needed! We do, though, need a Suburban Electric eXpress Train INnovative Group of vehicles@@Thom-TRA
The Beverly Branch's stations being so close together reminds of NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line. The line is 31 miles long, has nearly 20 stations, but the interesting part is that it goes from Hoboken Terminal to Spring Valley in NY! Six miles of the line is within New York, and service within NY is under contract with Metro-North. The Port Jervis Line operates in a similar way. Part of the PVL between Spring Valley and Nanuet was once part of the main Erie Railroad line from Piermont to Buffalo. The line is non-electrified and single tracked, but there are sidings. This is the line that the Meadowlands Rail Line branches off of, but because Pascack Valley is single tracked, this leads to capacity issues and overcrowding whenever there are events at the Meadowlands, like the Mass Transit Super Bowl in 2014.
I love the charm of these train/streetcar suburbs! Media in Pennsylvania is a similar way. SEPTA operate a trolley line that goes right through the center of Media between Media and the 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby! Media's trolley was built by the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company and opened in April 1913. It was later bought by the Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company in 1954 and absorbed into SEPTA in the 1970s. Besides the trolley, Media is also served by stations on the Media/Wawa Line. Norristown is also similar with its interurban light rapid transit line which also goes to 69th Street, and being served by regional rail as well with the Manayunk/Norristown Line.
There is so much here in the Northeast I have yet to see…
Yes I was going to say this route reminds me of parts of the Paoli line on septa 😆
Is Philadelphia Suburban the same thing as *Red Arrow* ?
While overhead electrification is definitely preferable, if you don't have the capital for overhead electrification, using BEMUs is the better move! And running them on the Beverly Branch makes sense with all the stops and the electric’s far superior acceleration! As you mentioned, a station on the site of LaSalle Street originally opened in 1852. A new station was built in 1866 with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (which later became part of NY Central) joining in. The Great Chicago Fire burned it down in 1871, shortly rebuilt, and replaced with a new station designed by the architectural firm Frost & Granger which opened in July 1903 and stood until 1981.
This 1903 station was a set for Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 movie North by Northwest and George Roy Hill's 1973 movie The Sting. In January 1957, trains of the Michigan Central Railroad began serving LaSalle. LS&MS and Michigan Central trains (both part of the New York Central system) last used LaSalle in October 1968. The Rock Island opted out of Amtrak and continued to operate intercity service. These final intercity trains serving LaSalle made their final trips on New Year's Eve 1978. Rock Island handed its commuter operations in 1980 to Chicago and North Western, who in turn handed it over to the RTA a year later, and of course this became part of Metra in 1984.
So many beautiful stations we’ll never get to see…
Also, with BEMUs electrification can easily be done in sections whenever funds become available.
@@stephanweinberger good point
Dear respected Supreme Leader *Kim Jong-un* ,
When will you film more videos on your country's modern electrified railway network? We would love to see more of it.
I wish the federal government would push electrification of all railroads. If they can find 90% of all highway construction, I don't see why they can't fund 90% of electrification.
I’ve always wondered why the stations on the beverly branch are so close together. Thanks for making a video on this.
The more you know!
The stripes on the ends of metra trains is for increased visibility. They were added after the 1972 crash on the ICG electric line (pre metra) at 27th street, that killed 45 people.
Studies from around the world have shown that using a single bright color or bright lights can have the same effect. The lights on a flirt negate the need for the chevrons. And by the time you see the stripes, it's too late. People need to be safer around crossings.
@@Thom-TRA Chicago can be weirdly stubborn about our keeping our local quirks, I have a feeling that's why these are being kept.
Thank you for highlighting my home line! Great video as always!
Cool, you live on this line?
Yep, I take it to school everyday! It would be nice to have those FLIRTs right now lol.@@Thom-TRA
I've heard of the proposed battery trains, but I wasn't entirely sure if it was Stadler or not. Now, not only do I know for sure that Stadler FLIRT trains will operate on Metra, but I also learned more about them and the Beverly branch that it will run on! I'm looking forward to hearing more about these battery trains.
Thanks for the information!
Great stuff to look forward to!
Have them in UK. Not battery but ni mode. Wizzing around Anglia
@@pn112upfast I've read about the Class 755 units!
Also, I might check out your channel later. Thanks for the comment!
@@SleepTrain456 no problem. The Flirts here are good. Acceleration on diesel is good. I like how similar some of your trains are to ours.
Metra originally planned to convert old f40ph diesels to electrics, but scrapped that idea
The Aerotrain, what a wicked cool train! Despite the name Beverly Hills, the area isn't named after the one in California, as the one in CA was named such around two decades AFTER 91st Street-Beverly Hills was named! Instead, it's said that it was named after Beverly, Massachusetts at the suggestion of the wife of the first director of the Art Institute of Chicago William M. R. French (who was originally from New England). The one in CA was also named after Beverly, MA! Really love the look of the Metra FLIRTs! Especially the touch of the Chicago flags on the doors! The city has such an iconic flag to be proud of! Initially the flag had just two stars when it was adopted in 1917, but it changed to three in 1933 and then a fourth in 1939.
Each six-pointed star (six points were chosen because no other flag had this when it was made) represents an event in Chicago's history. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933, and the establishment of Fort Dearborn in 1803. Each point on these stars has a meaning. For the Great Chicago Fire for example the points represent the virtues of religion, education, aesthetics, justice, beneficence, and civic pride. The three white bars represent the North, West, and South Sides of Chicago. The top sky-blue bar represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River, while the bottom bar represents the South Branch of the river and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Thank you for another trip down memory lane, Thom! In my senior year in high school, I worked at a family-run grocery store across the street from the 99th Street station. That was eons ago (1975-76) when they were still running steam power. 😂🤣😂 j/k
My only concern about the FLIRT trains is their passenger capacity compared to the huge consists Metra is currently running.
I now live in San Diego and use our trolley (electrified light rail) regularly and love it. It would work beautifully on the Beverley branch.
I think the metra consists right now are over capacity. They just don’t want to split them in the yards.
I love the local grocery stores in Chicago. We frequented the Big Apple market in Lincoln when we lived there.
Dreaming of FLIRTS someday for the FrontRunner service in Utah!
I’m sure once electrification is completed they’ll get something like the KISSes in California
Nice work with the line graphics! No fluff, no info overload, gets the point across directly.
13:26 I find it goofy that these platform direction indicators say "To Chicago" (or "to New York" in the LIRR / Metro North) when the stations are wholly in city limits. Even in the 100+ years since annexation (or amalgamation in NYC's case)...
It would be less goofy if the inbound platforms had direction indicators saying "To Northwestern Station/OTC" on the Union Pacific line, "To Union Station" on the lines into Union Station and so on.
I’m surprised the current trains on this branch are not like 2 car shuttles, but full 8 car long trains.
same, it really surprised me. like, even if they still wanna go with diesel locomotives and these types of train cars, 8 seems a little overkill - looks like they can be separated easily right?
14:10, regarding the 115th St. station, it burned down in May, 2017. It HAD been a super cute, quaint wood-framed depot, but it’s now gone.
Ottawa is currently testing the diesel FLIRTs. They are working well and look great!
Do you know when they expect them to enter service?
@@Thom-TRA. Should be running in October/November. If you do a TH-cam search on O-Train Line 2 Testing you will find a bunch of vids of the testing of these spiffy diesel trains.
Finally American cities are starting to actually understand commuter transit ❤
Nice view of Metra Electric across the St from Blue Island Station & Metra Yard.
It definitely seems like a long overdue step in the right direction to be switching to electric trains for a line with so much surrounding medium-high density housing and frequent stops. The 'dude' in me has a huge soft spot for big, lumbering diesel-electric locomotives, but this corridor is clearly are better suited to FLIRTS such as these. Thanks for another great video, Thom!
I think the good part for us rail fans is we will see both next to each other for a long time to come!
I'm new to the transit industry and I just discovered your channel. I really appreciate the research and knowledge that went into this video, as well as the good explanation of the benefits these FLIRTs will bring to the area. Great content!
Thanks! And may I be the first (or not) to say welcome!
Wow and I thought the MBTA Framingham-Worcester line had a lot of stops east of Framingham. Overall I see this as a real net win even if I think overhead catenary is a better option. I agree that if anyone can make this battery thing work it willl be Stadler. It'll be interesting to see how much fater these lighteigh multiple-units ill be than those super heavy push-pull gallery car/EMD trains.
I actually kinda like the stripes ngl
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. It was very useful and informative!
You’re welcome!
Great video! I grew up a block away from the 91st street station at 9200 Longwood Drive. I could watch the trains for hours out of our front window as a kid. The PRR/Penn Central freight crossed over at the same intersection. In 7th-8th grade I would hop on an outbound commuter and ride it to 95th street and walk back. If I had time, I would do it on the next train. I was kicked off a few times, but I think they got used to my determination. These were the old "Al Capone" coaches pulled by E7/8's. Sometimes the were doubled up. The "Gallery" coaches were pulled by the HEP equipped E6, F7's, and the AB6's. It wasn't until the Rock Island acquired some E8/9's from UP that they were used for push/pull service. I was let down one day on a trip with my mom to go downtown. I was hoping for a "Double Decker", as I called them, but was given a ride on some bizarre Italian diesel trolley car that Rock Island was testing. Congratulations on making it from 103rd to 111th street station on foot without be stripped of your personal belongings! You chose wisely on the correct time of day and weather to pull it off! Addition!!! After a bit of research there is no chance I rode the Fiat rail car with my mom. It was later in 1976-78, and I had moved away from the area and decided to travel downtown from the old neighborhood. I had no idea they had such a thing. The disappointing train memory with my mom was that we got on the wrong "L" train and ended up going down the Dan Ryan to 95th street. Screwed out of a ride on a Double Decker! I'm old enough to remember the RS3's running commuter trains through Beverly, but young enough to have missed the Aerotrains. My dad hated them.
Nice little area, N. Beverly. I live south of there near Longwood and have several friends who live in N. Bev. It's mind-numbing to get in and out of there due to the traffic control intersections just off 95th and Western Ave if you don't drive through there often. I'm by no means complaining. It is an absolute necessity to keep that area quiet and safe.
We moved to Palos Heights in 1976 after graduating from M.P.A. due to 2 home burglaries, one of which was armed. My other grandparents were at 9167 S. Pleasant and they sold to Obama's buddy , Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in 1978. 95th street was once the "Rodeo Drive" of Chicago. Do you know a Vernon Larson? @@stringlarson1247
Nice to see you in my old stomping grounds. For a young black kid living on the south side, I saw Beverly and Morgan Park as neighborhoods for bougie folks..places where lawyers, professors, doctors, etc. owned beautiful homes, yet still lived in the city limits. I've ridden the Rock Island down and the Electric District back into the city on one of my many teenage railfan trips. And that 349 bus all the way to Harvey to hop back on the Electric Main Line. Good content!
Great video, Thom - as always!!
Thank you so much!
This was such an awesome video, especially when you walked from station to station! I can’t imagine that big train stopping every four blocks! Your historical research and passion are greatly appreciated. It’s so awesome and unique that these stations still exist!!! And the FLIRT will be perfect for this line in the future!!! Can’t wait!!!
I actually found a really great academic article written in the 1940s for all the historical facts
I wish METRA would fully electrify the Rock Island Branches. I thought they were going to install the 1,500 volts DC current wiring down to Joliet. The Rock Island METRA Trains could easily connect to the METRA ELECTRIC BLUE ISLAND BRANCH at Vermont Street and run to MILLENNIUM PARK! It should be like a rapid transit line the Beverly Branch.
IMHO, they'd probably be better off electrifying the rest of their network with 25kv AC and converting the existing 1500VDC line to 25kv AC and transitioning to modern EMUs, or at least leasing some electric locomotives to haul their existing stock until they can get EMUs.
@@mrvwbug4423 I'd like METRA to be just like SEPTA ELECTRIC RAIL with cars like theres. Silverliner Vs built by Hyundai -Rotem and Silverliner IVs built by GE. Since the early 1980s all diesel passenger services were discontinued and have been operating electrically ever since. METRA should follow SEPTA and do the same.
@@mrvwbug4423 25kv AC is like SEPTA'S MAINLINE ELECTRICS REGIONAL RAIL they've been using since they've electrified.
Thom! Great to have you guys back even for 1 episode!❤💛( Rock Island colors lol) come back when the Flirts are running👍🏻🚂 Stadler is also the manufacture r of the incredible Eurodual loco diesel-elec/elec loco👍🏻
I promise to come back before that too!
15:56 those trains are running in swiss and germany since 1996!
I really love this channel because you actually give me history about the public transportation. Thanks Thom and have a safe day back in the Midwest area.
Glad you appreciate it!
Love the adventure! Especially with new FLIRT trains about to be involved.
My grandmother used to take the Rock Island District to downtown for work back in the day but then she switched to electric line until she retired in June 2015.
Great video!!!! I went to Percy L Julian H.S on the express branch right at the 103rd street Washington Heights station. Spent many of days before and after school watching the trains go by after basketball practice!!!! I remember one of our teachers sadly had their car stuck on the tracks and a train hit it!!! Fortunately the teacher escaped and wasnt hurt. Im currently in Joliet where the Rock Island line ends. May have to take a trip down the Beverly Branch soon. Thanks for the memories!!!!!
I’m glad the teacher was okay! Glad to bring back memories!!
What you left out: This RI Suburban Loop is the only UNSIGNALLED Metra line on its system. Or it was in 2005--with the expensive push to Positive Train Control it has probably been signalled now finally. Before it was operated by timetable and train order or the modern equivalent thereof.. Long Story you don't need, but the fact that such a busy line was unsignalled for so long is somewhat astounding. Here in Boston some commuter lines were unsignalled but they saw lighter use--but their few passenger trains DID interweave with local freights. The one round-trip a day Bedford Branch was the last one in January 1977.
There are signals now but I don’t know when they were added
When they first introduced these units I had the idea in my head that they would immediately be thown into longer haul commuter service, but running them on connecter lines makes a lot more sense. Battery electric trains are in general not a great idea for mainline service, but for local and short haul service, like the beverly branch, it makes sense. If metra ever overhead electrifies their mainlines, I wonder what equipment they'll use. Loco hauled? EMUs? Nonetheless, these units are a step in the right direction. Thanks!
I’m sure these could do local service on MDW or UPN too
A double decker EMU like the Stadler KISS would probably work well for Metra if they electrified. Their existing rolling stock is so old that there isn't much point to hauling it with electric locomotives
A lot of the projects in Germany/Europe with FLIRTs are doing much longer routes by leveraging or adding partial electrification to lines. A mix of BEMU & EMU could be a good fit for Metra to extend electric trains as far as possible without having to pay/deal with political headache of full electrification from day 1.
Yeah I heard about this on the news last week I think it's pretty neat they're going to get battery drains.
Some people might complain about the FLIRT having less capacity than the previous double decker trains ... well, the FLIRT is a regional train, not designed for high capacity commuter rail services. The matching counterpart in the Stadler lineup would be the KISS double decker train, which has an even higher capacity than the double decker trains used in Chicago so far
I actually like the chevrons on the front!
They make it look dated by several decades
My grandparents’ house was located 80 feet north of 95th Street and from the corner of their street, S. Charles, it was 220 feet to the 95th Street-Beverly Hills station. I grew up in Los Angeles but we used to ride the El Capitan to Chicago every summer to visit the relatives. We would often take the Rock Island into downtown Chicago to go to the Marshall Field store and do some touristy stuff. On one of trips, we actually got to ride on the Aerotrain. I remember thinking how cool that thing looked. I’ve only recently learned about how much every other railroad that tested it, hated it, and that that’s how the Aerotrain ended up on the Rock Island.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this ride on the one Chicago commuter train route which I’ve actually experienced.
Nice glimpse of the train swaying about.
Thanks!
Hot Take: I actually like the Stripes on the FLIRTs and I don't mind them on the FLIRTs
The main line also had a stop at 11th Street known as Givens, not sure what year it was eliminated
Whether or not the large stripes are effective, sadly you'll never get rid of them on Metra due to the way too many pedestrian collisions with Metra trains, not the least of which is the death of Mary T. Wojtyla in 1991. It shook Chicagoland and Metra to its core. The train was obviously too close to her for the stripes to have made a difference, but it's incidents like these that I believe will ensure a long life for those stripes. I was about your age when it happened and have never forgotten it. There are videos of it on TH-cam you can search on your own, by searching her name, but they are gruesomely graphic so I'm not linking them here.
Great vid BTW, Tom.
You can do the same with bright lights or a yellow front though
What's up dude, nice Metra ride.
Great video!
Thanks!
Great timely video. I grew up near 111th Street. You did your homework on the line.
I worry about the capacity of these FLIRTs. A two-car set seats 122. A gallery car seats about 145. My impression is that Metra tends to run six-car and eight-car trains on the line. That capacity must be needed during rush hour.
Metra is buying eight two-car sets. A four-car set might have enough capacity during off-peak hours. Maybe 4 four-car sets could cover the off-peak schedule. But during rush hour, they will need to make way for the big boys, the diesel-powered gallery trains.
I think we make the mistake of assuming the train lengths equal high ridership numbers. That is obviously not a reliable metric.
Hey, greetings from Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein!
Since fall last year we also have BEMUs running on one of our main lines. Until the end of the year, even 40% of all lines in our country will be run by BEMU Flirt.
And although we actually had some problems in the winter, most issues were solved by stadler with a software update. But you have to recognice longer loading procedure when ist's cold and schould and schould build your timetable in a way that you are able to handle the worst case smothly.
I never heard of this line before, so thanks for presenting.
Glad to hear about your experience with the FLIRT Akku!
You are not wrong about how loud those locomotives are. I was watching a WTA tennis tournament on TV from the excellent XS tennis Center. The line out of LaSalle ruins right passed and every few mins the noise of the train passing was deafening through my speakers. Glad some are being replaced.
this is going to greatly impact our community and i can say first hand that the deisel trains interrupt the schools in beverly
They should run specially wrapped valentine FLIRT trains.
(And people will give it the neck name Suburban Electric Express)
I used to use many of the stations to get to highschool by iit…. Thanks for mentioning it
The high-visibility lines on the front of the train are not about looks, but rather about safety. They should do whatever makes the trains the most visible which should reduce incidents.
I find it ridiculous so many people actually think they improve safety. Does metra have a dramatically lower incident rate than other systems? No.
They’re not even high visibility. By the time you can see them, it’s often too late.
You know what you can see from a distance? The train’s lights. Which is why in the UK, which long had a yellow front policy, trains are now exempt from having a bright colored front if they have strong enough lights.
And even then, we’re assuming that the victims of accidents were actually looking.
“High visibility lines” are a ploy to fool people into thinking the railroad is actually doing something about safety, when real safety measures would be grade separation and safer crossings.
are they reflective? If not, it's far from high visibility
And I thought the close spacing of stations on the line to Aurora was ridiculous, but the Beverley Branch takes the mick. Heavy diesel locomotives look so out-of-place on a line with Metro-esque station spacing.
Speaking of Stadler, they're also building 57 new diesel locomotives for KiwiRail (designated as the DM class). It'll be interesting to see how those things look when they're in service.
Stadler bought Vossloh/EMD in Spain. So your locomotives for New Zealand is a relative to old EMD locos. 😄
great day to live on the rock island line 😁
Metra could not have picked a better corridor to put battery FLIRTs on. This is an amazing video and great takes.
Thank you!
My question is why do them when there fleet needs newer locomotive to replace the F40s
@@gamerfan8445 because these are better than locomotives. Plus they got a grant for them.
@@Thom-TRA not really. On that line yeah. However it won’t solve their problems at all.
@@gamerfan8445 because metra needs a one-size fits all solution for every problem they have. Because that makes sense.
Full of win! This looks like the start of a virtuous circle of low-impact upgrades - have you seen any section time projections? Thanks for sharing! \m/
That Morgan Park 111th Street Station seems so familiar. Haven't we seen this in a winter scene in some fiim?
Thank you for this fascinating video ! Your explanation of the branch line is much appreciated, and I completely agree that the forthcoming Stadler battery units will be perfect for that route. However, I must say as an ardent fan of American diesel locomotives, don’t be too harsh on Metra for buying more diesel locos in the short term, like the SD70MACHs. The sjght and sound of those diesels is wonderful, and they are as fuel efficient and low on emissions as possible compared to their earlier diesels. I look forward to your next Chicago adventure !
Wow I used to take this train from and to Morgan Park for work/study. Taking me back to high school 😂
Next stop: memory lane!
Amazing that they keep that line running like that. It's a little disapointing that there hasn't been more development of all those nieghborhoods along that line, though.
Those are old near south suburbs set in their ways, every little thing becomes a big city council and community activism issue. Lots of shakedown artists. Nobody in their right mind would invest.
I feel like the BEMU idea is too early for the RI district. Metra considered electrifying the RI District line, and I’m one of those few people who realizes until now that its a bit complicated to operate them. Time will be tell if those BEMUs can effectively operate considering their limits are time and range.
I believe (but I can’t confirm), but the red/white high visibility striping is a legal requirement. It had to do with the Illinois Central, when one train in a fog telescoped into another at a station at a curve. I could be wrong, and it’s just preference to use high viz striping on both sides, but I do know it started with the IC.
That would be interesting to look up
I grew up on this branch and this line, more than others, is perfect for some kind of electrification! I just wished they picked a bilevel option to better match their existing fleet and to keep capacity high. Great video as always!
I’m sure capacity will be just fine. Multiple units are flexible that way.
I rode the BNSF line out to Lisle every morning for five years, and the sound of the rubber on the gangways rubbing as the train passes over the switches out of the station is painfully nostalgic for me
It’s such a weird noise
I’m from the west coast, so I don’t know much about Metra, but it looks out of proportion. The FLIRTs seem like a great idea.
The prospect of running battery electric FLIRTs instead of much larger trains of gallery cars is fascinating. A two-car FLIRT has a lot less capacity than an eight-car train of gallery cars. Is the reality that the Beverly Branch doesn't need all that capacity even during rush hour? Second, last time I checked, outside of rush hour, especially on weekends, most Rock Island District trains run via the Beverly Branch to Blue Island, then out to Joliet on the main line. How will FLIRTs do on that service?
Thanks for doing such a great job of introducing this fascinating unusual Metra branch!
Remember that it’s much easier to attach two or three multiple units to each other than it is to shorten a locomotive hauled train. For every trip except maybe one or two rush hour trips, the current trains are way overcapacity and are a waste of money. In fact, on many lines Metra simply closes several cars.
There are only a few weekend services that run the entire way and I’m sure by then they’ll change service.
this reminds me a lot of the montclair-boonton line on NJT, specifically the montclair portion of it.
FINALLY WE GETTING A VID ABT MY LINE YESSSSS
Electrifying the Rock Island line would be way too expensive for Metra. The only reason Caltrain was able to electrify their corridor was because California is a state that gives more money to state-owned passenger rail agencies and HSR provided a third of the funding needed for that project
Illinois needs to do the same. We can’t keep making money an excuse.
@@Thom-TRA but how can Metra pay for a project that expensive when they don’t have the budget, PLUS have so many other needs to address
@@Thom-TRA The thing with Illinois is that outside of the Chicago Area, there's a lot more Republican influence.
Perhaps a lot of the funding from the infrastructure bill that is being thrown at railroads should be used to electrify as many existing diesel commuter lines as possible. It could be done fairly quickly, existing rolling stock could be hauled with electric locomotives making transition quick.
@coleallen3895: I think funding can be obtained to electrify the Rock Island RAILROAD. It's a definite possibility the way transit is progressing. Look how the South Shore Line has gotten allot of funding for major improvements like building a new line from Hammond to Dyer and Munster Indiana. The double tracking project from Gary to Michigan City IN and finally elimination of street running that was so hazardous.
BEMU Flirt are now running quite successfully on the non-electrified Neumünster - Bad Oldesloe line in Northern Germany. These had minor issues during rather strong winter weather (0 - 5 °F together with strong winds) meaning that the recharging time at the catenary isles took some minutes more than the planned 5 mins. The trains still were able to reach the following catenary isles (having to have the ability to skip 2 recharging stops at any time), but had to recharge to a certain level to safely do so. This has been the heaviest winter operating issue with Flirt BEMU in Germany so far.
Glad to hear things have been going well!
In the RID, you can see F40PH-3s no 100, 108, 111 and 184, F40PHM-3s no 202, 207, and 209, and mp36s no 406-410, 412, 415-419, 424-425.
Exciting
As soon as I got the alert from Stadler that this was coming, I thought of you Tom.
Suburban Electric eXpress. Very funny.
I have mixed feelings about the stripes. Your point is well taken. They look very good on boxy trains. But I think they are too important to the brand of metra not to be an element. Maybe on a gen 2 livery the stripes go away.
I’ll be glad to see them go to be honest
The MP36PHs have Candy Cane stripes
Great video. It's hard to see how nice the area actually is on a gray Nov. morning. It's spooky to see LaSalle St. so dead on a Monday at 07:30. You must have hit a 'sweet spot' with no inbound trains at the time. For that matter, the entire Loop has been pretty spooky since Covid hit. I've been down there a few times in the morning since 2020, and it's quite dead compared to pre-2020.
Hopefully, this FLIRT thing works out as BI Vermont has a yard where they could 'easily' add/remove capacity and, hopefully, increase frequency on this sub-line. Metra is currently dragging 8+/- empty cars up and down the line from LaSalle to BI Vermont and/or Joliet during off-peak hours, which is an insane amount of wasted energy and maintenance cost. Also, the off-peak schedule is hourly, which makes it a PITA for going downtown on nights and weekends.
BTW: There was a little station at 115th until someone torched it about 5yrs(?) ago.
The loop is definitely one of the more disappointing downtown areas in America. There's bustle on Michigan Ave but the rest of the streets seem to mostly serve offices. Despite there being so many apartments most food places close at 5 and on the weekends.
@@Thom-TRA Yep, definitely true for The Loop proper and west to I90/94. The West Loop/Fulton market and River North have really taken off over the last 20 yrs. Also, South Loop over the last 10. I was just looking at office vacancy rates and it's hit a high of %23+ percent (Oct '23). I think it's probably higher in The Loop. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to these large office towers in the comming years.
Did you ride the Metra Electric back) most of the south end is single tracked and I have not had the pleasure, do you plan to do a video on that either to or from Blue Island?
Yes, I took that branch back. A video will come soon.
The two story stations in this video were built with the intention that the local ticket agent would live in the station. It did happen but it was gone when Metra came into the picture.
Wow, I didn't know that! I know of station buildings in Europe where the manager would live in the building. Many of these are still houses.
That station spacing is about what I expect from European streetcar stop spacing. If they made that train a little longer it could hit 2 at a time - like those double-decker elevators. Those pax cars dont work for commuter service very well, not enough doors per passenger.
Off peak service to Joliet goes via the Beverly branch
No it doesn’t. Only a few late night services.
I knew that one Stadler video would go viral
What is that small yellow train I saw at the station
Very exciting to see this happening! Love these streetcar/railway suburbs.
They have a certain charm
Ah yes, the return express when having to go to the end, only to reboard in opposite direction to finally arrive at suburban stop already passed up by express. Making commuting to one's morning job a job in itself.
We have Flirts in UK. BI Mode. Small diesel 'power' coach for when not on 25kv overhead. Brilliant video mate. Greetings from UK 🇬🇧
I’d like to ride the greater Anglia flirts someday
And the TfW ones of course
@@Thom-TRA they are good. I like them 👍
@@Thom-TRA not ridden on them yet......
I’m glad Metra is finally realizing they need to update their fleet. At a time when literally every other commuter rail system in North America was doing so, Metra for the longest time wanted to stay in the past with their super polluting diesels and their gallery cars, but now it looks like that’s finally about to change. I really can’t wait. Metra needs to deploy these on all their diesel lines
It made the news all the more surprising and exciting
Great video thom😀🎇
Thanks!
Very familiar with this line. 115th Street’s lovely old Victorian station was lost about 10 or 15 years ago. It’s a shame.
A real shame indeed
Suburban Electric eXpress 😜😂
Amazing video timing! I just rode the Rock Island from Joliet to Chicago today and was confused by what the conductor announced when we reached Blue Island. Thank you for the video!
You’re welcome!
115th used to have a station it was burnt down in a fire
What one sees out the window is your own personal Google Street view to our city of the century playing out live. Spreading out from "Y" hub of storied Chicago river.
If I recall, candy cane stripes resulting from south shore commuter accident some 80 or more years ago where one train Barreled into the back of another.
@Trains Are Awesome de Stadler FLIRT op de concept tekening lijkt op de Stadler WINK die in Nederland rijdt qua lengte alleen de kleur is anders en een deur minder en geen pantograaf
It was my understanding that the remanufactured battery locomotives were still a plan. I believe I read that the FLIRTs weren’t even going to be used during peak hours due to lack of capacity. I do love the idea of having a battery locomotive for peak times and then off peak having these to run frequent service.
The contract to convert them fell through and they have to renegotiate. It would not surprise me if it never happens, which is honestly good in my opinion. I can't think of a project that would be more prone to failure.
@@Thom-TRA well if they don’t do that then they’ll just run diesel. They ordered 200(+50 more recently) Alstom bilevel cars so something will need to pull those.
What makes me sad about Metra is that it is neither so frequent nor fast(in terms of acceleration) to be a world-class regional transit system, but it is still one of the best American suburban rail systems outside of NYC. FLIRT would be the first step to make it closer to the level the city deserves, but that would not be enough. I hope RTA also invests on the facility aspects as well.
One advantage it has over NYC is that it’s one integrated system, though with 4 downtown stations instead of 2. I’d also add Metrolink to the list of good systems, at least for a few of the lines.
I wonder when Metra will electrify. But the battery electric trains are an okay stopgap until then.
CalTrain might be setting a good example for everyone else though as far as electrification goes.
We have similar BEMU Flirts running in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Beside mishaps when the engineer forgot to lower the pantographs at the end of the overhead wire, they run smoothly over the last winter. True it would be beneficial to have overhead wires everywhere like in Switzerland, but planning to do so and implementing is time consuming and expensive. Thus, in the meantime BEMU is a good option. Especially, you can convert them back to only overhead use later anyway. In case you have an 30 min service in both directions. Overhead wires will be cheaper in the long run unless you have many places where jerks can ruin them with trucks.
Thank you for this user perspective!
This line seems like it should have at least 30 minute service though, perhaps even 15 minute service. At some point in frequency there is a break-even point and after that it becomes cheaper to install overhead wires than getting expensive batteries for every single unit.
@@dijikstra8 True. The overall cost would be smaller. However, the use of BEMU is quicker and cheaper now. Electrification can take years or decades in planning. Not because the task is so complex, but because paying now and saving later is an unpopular approach for managers and politicians. Also it allows to "electrify" the service now without much infrastructure. This was also the argument for those running in Germany in Schleswig-Holstein. You can still plan to electrify later, but the pressure to become CO2 neutral is gone. I totally agree with your take to do overhead wires now. However, I can understand why they kick that can down the road.
Trains are Awesome!
Yes they are!
I’ve noticed a pattern in which wealthier areas tend to be able to keep many stations, even when “practicality” would dictate closing stations, likely due to the local citizens having the political power to prevent station closures.
This area isn’t necessarily that wealthy though
@@Thom-TRA That's a good point. I always kind of assumed Beverly was rich lol.