Metra passengers boarding inbound trains at five Metra Electric stations close to downtown will need to use temporary platforms from Oct. 14 to Oct. 27 while one of the line’s four tracks is taken out of service to accommodate a major construction project. The work will also result in some rush period delays, and a Sunday schedule will be in effect on the next three Saturdays during the month.
The construction work is increasing the line’s capacity because the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Line and is paying for most of the work, is expanding its service in northwest Indiana and wants to run more trains downtown.
During that three-week stretch in October, the work will require Track 3, one of four tracks on the line, to be taken out of service. All inbound trains will run on Track 4 from 65th Street to downtown.
The 47th Street, 27th Street, 18th Street, McCormick Place and Van Buren Street stations have island platforms, with Tracks 1 and 2 on the west side and Track 3 and 4 on the east side. For passengers at those stations to get from the island platform to the doors of an inbound train on Track 4, Metra will install temporary bridge platforms across the out-of-service Track 3. Customers are asked to wait behind the yellow line on the regular platforms until trains arrive, the doors open, and the conductor steps off the train to invite them to cross the bridge platforms into the train.
The Museum Campus/11th Street Station and stations south of 47th Street have a different layout, with Track 4 directly accessible from the platforms.
The McCormick Place and Van Buren Street stations will still be accessible to persons with disabilities; the other three stations will continue to be inaccessible.
Because inbound trains normally run on two tracks and will only be able to operate on one during the work, passengers on inbound rush period trains should expect delays of up to 20 minutes. And Metra will operate a Sunday schedule on the entire line on three consecutive Saturdays: Oct. 12, Oct. 19, and Oct. 26.
Metra will have members of its Customer Response Team at all five stations to assist customers with the temporary platforms in the first few days of the process.
