If you take the Metra to and from downtown Chicago from stations in Riverside and Brookfield every day, you just got a couple extra minutes – officially — to get to the platform on your way in to work.
On Friday, Metra announced a new schedule for its trains along the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad line “to better reflect actual operating conditions and minimize customer wait times,” according to a press release issued by the commuter rail agency.
The schedule was developed using “months of GPS and signal data to determine the most realistic, typical schedule” although unpredictable factors could result in future delays.
The new schedule (which can be viewed online at www.metrarail.com) went into effect on Sunday, Oct. 9.
According to Metra’s press release, the BNSF routes have been adjusted by adding one or two minutes per stop to existing departure times. In some cases, four to seven minutes have been added to departure times from inbound platforms all along the line.
But that shouldn’t affect the time you’ll arrive at or leave from at Union Station in the future, Metra says.
“The new schedule does not change the arrival and departure times of trains at Union Station,” the press release states. “They will continue to arrive and depart there at the same times as the current schedule.”
No stops have been eliminated on any of the routes at the local stations, and the four express train routes to Union Station from the Congress Park platform in Brookfield on weekday mornings remain the same, though their departure times are slightly later.
