Metra plans to tweak the schedule of Electric Line trains next year after installing a federally mandated electronic safety system intended to prevent collisions.
The Positive Train Control safety system requires more spacing between trains as they pass through a busy rail junction south of Millennium Park, according to Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile.
“PTC software doesn’t allow as many trains moving in the area as we currently do,” she said.
“To resolve this, there are going to have to be some changes to the schedule, but we’re not sure yet what those changes will be,” she said.
Options include adding more time between departures, or adding more cars to trains but having fewer actual departures.
The Metra Electric, which runs from the south suburbs to Union Station, averages more than 27,000 passenger trips per weekday.
Positive Train Control is being installed on all Metra lines under a federal mandate that it be in place on all train lines nationwide by the end of 2020.
It’s not the first Metra train line to be affected by the PTC rollout.
The schedule for the BNSF line had to be tweaked in late 2018 when it became the first Metra line to begin operating under the new system.
