[llamaorama]

Since I am not from your area take this idea with a grain of salt:

While looking at Google Maps I noticed that the UP North line from around Clybourn up to Evanston runs on an embankment which is wider than the current number of tracks in place. The only major obstacles are the existing Metra stations that would need to be reconstructed.

Would this be a cheap way to implement another rapid transit or light rail line? It is an interesting route because it runs through a dense part of the north side and then ends around the West Loop, where a lot of jobs are moving to. Someone along that route would gain a quick one-seat ride to the West Loop, as opposed to boarding the Brown Lin and transferring to a bus or transferring to the Green Line in the Loop.

Even just add one new track between Clybourn and Oglivie, electrify the in-city stretch for use by the FRA-compliant bilevels ME uses already, increase frequency, and add infill stations that trains from Kenosha can bypass. It would be sort of like the ME between Millenium and 67th(except you know, modern).