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CHICAGO METRA Chicago is one of the great rail centers in the United States. Freight railroads fan out from the Windy City in all directions. It makes sense that Chicago turned to commuter rail to bring suburbanites into center city. When the freight railroads could no longer afford to operate money-losing commuter trains into Chicago, those trains were taken over by a government agency operating under the name of METRA. |
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One of Chicago's commuter rail lines is electrified with overhead wiring. This line runs to Chicago's southern suburbs. The tracks in the background are the old main line of the Illinois Central railroad, now part of Canadian National. |
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A METRA electrified train rolls by at twilight. One of the advantages of commuter rail over light rail is that commuter cars are big and heavy. The cars shown here are "double-decked" to carry more passengers. |
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Most of METRA's commuter rail trains consist of diesel powered locomotives pulling double-decked passenger cars. The bright red-and-white stripes painted on the front of the diesel are a METRA hallmark. |