Quick question that I'm sure has been asked multiple times.

Why isn't there a station by the United Center on the Pink Line at Madison Street? Is it a money issue or a usage issue or something?

I know there's plenty of buses running on Madison and there's a bus on Damen - but I always found that odd that you had that giant stretch from Ashland & Lake to Polk going right past the arena. Is the Medical Center station good enough to serve it as far as rail?

Just wondering.

Essentially, CTA doesn't want to pay for a station that's only used for sporting events. I tend to agree with them - an arena that deliberately surrounded itself with parking is a poor candidate for transit service. At Sox-35th, only a small fraction of Sox fans arrive by transit - far less than the highly-urbanized Wrigley Field.

I've heard conflicting reports - CTA recently said it preferred a Damen Green Line stop to a Madison Pink Line stop, because the Damen stop is a better overall addition to the transit network (people live nearby and there is a bus transfer) but now that the Reinsdorfs are planning to develop retail to the east, the Madison Pink Line may come back into consideration.

This is just a pipe dream, but if I owned the stadium I'd work the naming rights angle heavily. United's deal expires in 2014 and the yearly fee they pay to the owners is very low for a large-market stadium hosting two competitive teams. The owners, the sponsor (possibly not United after 2014) and CTA could work out a 3-way deal to get the rail station built and themed with ads, similar to the Apple deal at North/Clybourn. Construction for the station should be quick and cheap since Pink Line trains have an alternate route to the Loop and can be easily rerouted.

Well, that's exactly what the Nets did. They're moving to the new Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn and they purchased naming rights for the nearby station which serves I think 9 subways line and a commuter rail terminal - "Atlantic Avenue - Barclays Center".

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7...2f223450_n.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7...d2900b0a_z.jpg

Who knows, with the new eastern entertainment complex planned for the UC perhaps a new station will get done. I'm skeptical most of all because I think that the JM and the Wirtzs like the income from charging people to park their cars around the stadium to want to incoperate a station into their plans.

CHGO SUN-TIMES - Metra unveils new train tracker system
 

BY TINA SFONDELES Transportation Reporter
tsfondeles@suntimes.com
June 28, 2012 12:52PM

Metra riders will get precise arrival and departure times via a new train tracker system that will use GPS technology, the transit agency announced Thursday.

The Rail-Time Tracker feature on Metra’s website and mobile website will give riders the status of trains arriving at every station on the Metra system.

It shows the scheduled departure times of those trains in one column, and whether the trains are on time or running late. If trains are running late, riders will know the estimated arrival time.

The new system is linked to Metra’s GPS tracking system, which uses satellites to plot the exact locations of all trains in the system and can record precisely when a train arrives at and leave each station.

Metra already uses the GPS system to warn riders when trains are significantly delayed and to compile on-time performance reports.

The new tracker makes the real-time data available to riders, the agency said.

More at the Sun-Times website.

Thinking further, there might be another ulterior motive here... I noticed that both Jackson and Rush were present at the official announcement of the 95th project.

Could the new 95th be a sop to Jackson and Rush in order to make them quietly drop their opposition to the Englewood Flyover? Metra might not be very adept at bidding large projects in disadvantaged areas, but CTA has a far larger minority presence in its management and is presumably far better at awarding contracts to minority businesses. The 95th project has a higher value than the Flyover and if it's fast-tracked, it can start construction by next year.

Bobby Rush:
The city and CTA don't directly benefit from the Flyover, but it will eliminate some severe rail congestion that affects Amtrak service and crimps NS (which is apparently willing to invest heavily inside city limits). That is, there was plenty of incentive for Rahm to broker a deal.

Are you referring to the new freight railyard that was proposed somewhere near Garfield, along the line that runs between the Dan Ryan and Halsted (I can't remember whether that story involved NS)?

Also, as to your theory, the $240m price tag (much higher than the $140m announced at first) sure could look like a lot of political candy in the eyes of those congressmen, and in any event certainly does represent a lot of jobs and improvement in QoL to transit users in that area.

CTA Press Release:

The fact that the new cars are going in along the Pink and Green Lines is kind of funny, especially since the new seating arrangement was sold as a way to increase capacity on the Brown and Red lines (or, to a lesser extent, ancient equipment on the Blue)—I understand that specialized maintenance equipment is an issue, but is the CTA going to eventually have some kind of grand shuffle or are they just going to replace a large chunk of their fleet?

I thought they would pass up their cars until they have enough of the new 5000s. Like the Pink Line's old cars are going to go to the Blue line so they can get rid of their older cars. Could be wrong.

I will not miss my blinker doors

i really like the overall styling of the 2200-series cars, but those damn blinker doors are awful. their eventual disappearance from the blue line will be wonderful, especially considering that the blue line regularly serves people traveling with large suitcases and such.

Grand shuffle. It's been posted before (I think) but the slow rate at which the new cars arrive make it difficult to assemble a huge fleet of them for the Blue or Red lines. CTA also wants to figure out the maintenance requirements of the 5000s before putting them into grueling, heavy service on the city's busier lines.

What's the background of the name "blinker door"?

Colloquially it refers to the [folding in and to the sides] eyelid-like movement, hence "blinker", the doors make of particularly the CTA Budd 2200 series car but also earlier PCC streetcars.

Wow, your eyes work way differently from my eyes ... ;-) <-- that's a "winker" icon

[Don't feel like doing any research. Need simple reply.]

How long will Granville be closed?

Oh... and, can I get a link or info on the status of new 5000 series trains. First round was defective etc... what is the current status of new trains in our rolling stock?

Thanks.



Related question: why does the CTA suck so bad, all the time?!??! :hell:

you could try scrolling up 7 messages. (re 5000)

From what I can make out, the plan is to get rid of all the 2200s, 2400s, and most 2600s.

Right now, as the 5000s are going into service on Pink & Green, the 2600s and 2400s off of them are being shifted to the Red and Blue lines, replacing old 2200s and 2400s. I think Red is still due to start receiving 5000s before the end of the year.

When all is said and done, Red, Green, Orange, Yellow, Pink, and Purple will be running 5000s, while Brown and Blue will be running 2600s and 3200s.

I am guessing there is other shuffling going on that we don't know about...I've been seeing a lot more Red trains with Purple maps up recently.

Shuffling between Red, Yellow, and Purple is pretty common.

I do hope the 5000s end up on the Blue Line. It needs the extra capacity in each car, which the 3200s will not provide. The smooth ride will also be nice for visitors coming from the airport.

Metra seeks public input to develop first strategic plan in decades
 

http://gridchicago.com/2012/metra-se...an-in-decades/

by STEVEN VANCE on JULY 3, 2012

Furthering its goal of soliciting input and engaging in dialogue with its major stakeholders, Metra is asking its riders, the public, elected officials and others for their help as it begins to craft its first strategic plan in several decades. You can offer input by coming out to one of our public open house forums [calendar below] throughout the region. You can also provide input by completing a short survey actively available here from 7/2/12 until 8/10/12.

All meeting materials are on the Strategic Plan webpage.

CITY OF CHICAGO
Tuesday, July 10, 4 PM – 7 PM
Metra
Board Room, 13th Floor
547 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60661

DUPAGE COUNTY
Thursday, July 12, 4 PM – 7 PM
Village of Glen Ellyn
Village Hall, Galligan (Village) Board Room, 3rd Floor
535 Duane Street
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

KANE COUNTY
Tuesday, July 24, 4 PM – 7 PM
City of Geneva
Geneva City Hall
22 South First Street
Geneva, IL 60134

LAKE COUNTY
Tuesday, July 17, 4 PM – 7 PM
Libertyville Village Hall
Board Room/Council Chambers
118 W. Cook Avenue
Libertyville, IL 60048
MCHENRY COUNTY
Wednesday, July 25, 4 PM – 7 PM
Crystal Lake City Hall
Board Room/Council Chambers
100 West Woodstock Street
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

NORTH SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
Wednesday, July 18, 4 PM – 7 PM
City of Evanston
Civic Center, Parasol Room – 4th Floor
2100 Ridge Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201

SOUTH SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
Thursday, July 19, 4 PM – 7 PM
Village of Homewood
Village Hall, Board Room
2020 Chestnut Road
Homewood, IL 60430

WEST SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
Wednesday, July 11, 4 PM – 7 PM
Riverside Village Hall
Room 4
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, IL 60546

WILL COUNTY
Tuesday, July 24, 4 PM – 7 PM
Village of New Lenox
Village Hall, Council Chambers
1 Veterans Parkway
New Lenox, IL 60451

All of the open house events will soon be listed on our sidebar calendar.

Thanks. The metaphor is a bit stretched imho. I wonder if it's regional or not. If these exist in the UK I bet they have some cute name for them.