[nomarandlee]

Really infuriating with all the needs and upgrades both Metra and CTA needs there is any talk about extending further into sprawlville. Hopefully, this somehow gets killed.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/201...omplete-waste-


Is spending millions to extend Metra to Oswego needed -- or a 'complete waste'?
Marni Pyke
6/3/2019

Last month, the commuter railroad allocated $4.5 million in federal funds to study stretching the BNSF Line to Oswego and other towns while Gov. J.B. Pritzker's capital program -- which passed this weekend -- allocates $100 million for Metra expansion into Kendall County.

The idea of spending millions pushing Metra past the six-county Regional Transportation Authority border while riders on existing lines endure crowded trains has some fuming....
.......So far, so good, but a preliminary cost-benefit analysis shows a BNSF extension would cost $440 million to construct and $5.1 million per year to operate and maintain the service (in 2016 dollars), Metra spokesman Mike Gillis said. How officials would make up the difference is still undetermined.

.....Pushing the BNSF Line to Sugar Grove wouldn't be cheap either. An extension would cost $370 million to construct and $4.5 million per year to operate and maintain the service (in 2016 dollars), Gillis said.

Still, it's cheaper than the Kendall option and stays within the RTA service area, Michels said.