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Metra 'On the Bi-Level' January 2018


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 22 January 2018 - 08:53 AM

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Metra Monthly Commuter Newsletter                                               January 2018

 

 

Reminder: Fares increase Feb. 1

     Metra reminds its customers that the fare increases and services changes approved as part of the agency’s 2018 budget will take effect in February. In November, the Metra Board approved a $797.2 million operating budget for 2018 that included fare increases and trims in service to close a $45 million funding gap. Fare increases will start Feb. 1.

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Reminder: Service changes start Feb.5

     For the first time in its history, the Metra Board also approved a small number of cuts to weekday service to balance its operating budget on its North Central Service, SouthWest Service and Rock Island lines. Some weekend trains on the Milwaukee District North Line also will be cut. Weekday changes will start Feb. 5, and the weekend changes will start Feb. 10.

 Read More 

 

 

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The 1980s are calling...
...and they want their phone back. Back in 1985, Metra tried out a new technology: phones on trains. Former Gov. Jim Thompson helped us publicize the test. Click here to find out how this experiment panned out.

 

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 TICKET CONFUSION 
    

     Here’s an observation that I’d like to ask you to address; I’m sending it in hopes that you’ll publish it in “Sound Off” because I believe others may have the same query. I have noticed that the monthly paper ticket design no longer regularly employs color shifts to distinguish between months. For November and December 2017 tickets, the Metra banner at the top is the same orange and the scenic images vary little.


Barry

     Here’s the deal: we thought we’d do something different and use a theme each year for our tickets. Last year we decided to feature historical stations. We probably could have thought it through a bit more but we noticed too late the same thing you’ve noticed – that all the tickets featured a station, the sky, a train. So we scrapped that plan and this year you’ll see more variety.

 

 NOT SEETHING  
 
      I read about Seething Sam and his resentment of Quiet Cars while a woman behind me, in a non-Quiet Car, was on her phone. I don’t think she realized that she could a) go to the vestibule, B) text, or c) lower her voice. I am so grateful that most mornings I can ride in a Quiet Car. I have chronic pain, and the opportunity to sleep has helped me to keep moving and keep working.

Deb

     We’re glad you like them. As we said last month, we offer Quiet Cars and non-Quiet Cars so all our customers have a choice. But even in the non-Quiet Cars, people should remember to be respectful of other customers.

 

 NOT A FAN  
    
     I am absolutely stunned that anyone would actually WANT more advertising on the trains. I am SO sick of everything being covered in ads, and it is the last thing that I want to look at when trying to have a nice quiet commute to and from work. I enjoy the Quiet Cars, and ads are visual yelling in my opinion. It would really bother me to pay as much as we do and still have to sit and look at ads everywhere.  It’s like paying $12 for a movie ticket and $20 for popcorn just to have to sit through commercials.

Maggie

     While we certainly understand this complaint, our funding situation is so dire that we can’t turn away any revenue from other sources. We will continue to seek advertising whenever and wherever we can.

 DON'T FORGET 

     I’m a longtime reader but a first-time commenter. I haven’t traveled on a Metra recently, though I live a few blocks from the Windsor Park Station on the Electric South Chicago Branch. I like that there are bathrooms installed on each car, and they’re more private. What I am disgusted by is the fact that I have to flush after every human. Shame on you for not flushing. Have some decency and courtesy for your fellow passengers. No one wants to clean up after you. We’re not your parents or the cleaning people. Otherwise, invest in getting a litter box because clearly, you have no home training.

A Cat with V.I.Poo status

     In the “We-Can’t-Believe-We-Even-Have-to-Say-This” category, please flush after using the toilet, and thank you.

 

 

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Poster contest deadline coming

Calling all elementary and high school students! The deadline is fast approaching for the latest edition of the Metra Safety Poster and Essay Contest. This year’s theme is: “Eyes up, Devices Down!” All entries must be emailed or postmarked by Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. For more information, go to metracontest.com.

 

Full story

 

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Metra honors outgoing CEO

Metra honored its former CEO/ Executive Director Don Orseno by placing his name on a locomotive that had been repainted in the red and yellow colors of the Rock Island Railroad. Orseno, who retired in December, began his career on the Rock Island. Today, a remnant of that railroad operates as Metra’s Rock Island Line to Joliet.

 

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Operation North Pole a success

A din of sirens in Des Plaines preceded a stream of fire trucks, police vehicles and yellow school buses rolling down Lee Street to the Metra station. There was no emergency here; this parade of vehicles was the start of Operation North Pole’s annual event, a fun-filled trip to the “North Pole” for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

 

Full story

 






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