"Metra has proposed sweeping schedule changes on the Electric District services that will increase service to one neighborhood, decrease service to other neighborhoods, and fully eliminate weekend service on the Blue Island branch."
"The only difference between, say, the Metra Electric along the south lakefront and the Red Line is that Red Line trains come more frequently, and accept CTA farecards and transfers. Send a train down the Metra tracks every ten to fifteen minutes and install turnstiles that take Ventra (or give conductors handheld readers), and you’ve effectively created a new 'L' line without laying a single foot of new track."
"Another goal should be to improve service on the Metra Electric. Currently, that system’s South Side and south suburban riders deal with wait times that can reach an hour and a half. They face additional headaches transferring between the Metra and the CTA, which remain poorly integrated."
"City Hall, the CTA, the RTA and Metra should work to better integrate existing transit networks on the South and West sides, including their connections to downtown."
"Metra Electric is the only example in the country of a mainline rail line that was once run as rapid transit, and has since been reduced to commuter rail.
Bringing back frequent service is restoring past glory, not doing something new—and that’s what I think the political messaging should be. Metra Electric is special, and it doesn’t fit into the paradigm that RTA and Metra have tried to fit it into for the last 35 years."
"the selection will put the library within blocks of the popular Museum of Science and Industry and in a park that drew millions of visitors from around the world during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Together, the two attractions might form a "Museum Campus South" that could rival the downtown Museum Campus. The center would be a short hop from either Lake Shore Drive or two Metra [Electric] traub stations, strong pulls for visitors."