Metra is launching a survey and scheduling public outreach events this month to ask riders what they think about potentially renaming lines to make the system easier to understand for new and occasional riders.
The survey can be found here and the outreach events will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the following schedule:
- March 11: Chicago Union Station
- March 12: Ogilvie Transportation Center
- March 13: Millennium Station and LaSalle Street Station
Metra says this effort is spurred in part by the coming transition of the operations of the Union Pacific North, Northwest and West lines to Metra. Union Pacific Railroad (UP) owns those lines and has historically operated them with its own employees but has decided it no longer wants to run passenger trains. Metra says it has been hiring many of UP’s workers and this spring will begin to directly run the service and Union Pacific will be phased out of the line names.
Metra notes the renaming of the three UP lines presents an opportunity to reconsider all its line names, which follow no logical or consistent pattern. Many are named after freight railroads that used to or still operate the service, while some are named for directions, or how trains are powered, or their location in a historic corridor. On maps, signs and timetables, each line uses a different color.
The agency says this system can be confusing for new users and for those who have limited proficiency with English. For instance, two lines have Milwaukee in their names because they were once part of the Milwaukee Road, but they do not go to that city.
The survey will ask riders to choose between three options:
- Retaining all the current names and colors except for the three UP lines.
- Using a single color for all lines and labeling all lines with an M for Metra paired with a number. For instance, M1, M2, M3, etc.
- Using a single color for lines that share a downtown station and labeling them with a letter to indicate the direction they go from downtown paired with a number. For instance, the three lines that use Ogilvie would be the same color and would be labeled N1 (for the UP North), N4 (for the UP Northwest) and W2 (for the UP West).
Metra believes developing clear and consistent line names may make the system easier to understand and encourage infrequent and first-time riders to ride more often. Research indicates that seven out of 10 customers ride once a month or less, while four out of 10 customers ride only once a year.
