Chicago Tribune, 4/22:
Metra to spend $80 million to help launch safety system
Metra's board on Wednesday approved two large contracts, including one for $80 million to help implement a high-tech safety system that federal officials said would have prevented two Chicago derailments that killed two people and injured scores of passengers.
The other contract, for $707,000, was awarded to a consulting firm that will advise Metra on strategic planning, including evaluating possible new service and stations.
The larger contract, awarded to Chicago-based Parsons Transportation Group, is Metra's biggest expenditure yet for installing a federally mandated system known as Positive Train Control, or PTC.
Parsons was the sole bidder, a fact that Metra Chairman Martin Oberman acknowledged was "troublesome" because there was no option.
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