Metra’s weekend expansion plan for its Union Pacific North Line went into effect Sept. 20, bringing the total number of inbound and outbound trains to 30 each day.
The line runs from Ogilvie Transportation Center in Downtown Chicago to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The expansion added four additional trains on Saturdays and 12 more on Sundays, intended to “decrease gaps in weekend service by offering hourly departures from Waukegan or Chicago throughout most of the day,” according to a Metra news release.
The new service is partly designed to counteract Metra’s slower weekend schedule. Prior to the change, 11 trains ran on Saturdays and only three trains ran on Sundays.
At Evanston’s Davis Station, Guillaume Gex, a French national and current Chicago resident, said the CTA is “too slow” for him and he instead prefers taking the Metra. Before the increase in trains, Gex rarely rode Metra on the weekends because of its inconvenient scheduling, he said.
Accustomed to the French public transit system, Gex said he was displeased with the Metra’s occasional delays, unexpected weekend changes and awkward departure times — all things that often made riding the Metra more of a hassle than it was worth.
“Last week (the train) was at 3 (p.m.), so I showed up at 3 (p.m.), and this week it’s at 3:20 (p.m.),” Gex said. “It seems that there is a push to attract more people to use public transportation, but changing your schedule every other week, I don’t think is the best practice.”
Gex expressed optimism about the expansion, adding that he’ll appreciate running more frequently and on a more deterministic schedule.
Jankhna Sura (Communication ’25), another Chicago-area resident, expressed similar enthusiasm. She, like Gex and many other Chicagoans, relies on Metra for both work and leisure. Sura added that she prefers Metra due to the cost advantage. Ubers and other forms of rideshare are “so expensive,” she said.
Metra fares are capped at $7 for unlimited rides across all lines, making it a good option for commuters in a hurry and on a budget.
“(The changes are) awesome because Metra is the fastest way to get around, especially if you want to go downtown or to Evanston,” Sura said.
Chicago resident Lauren Hamilton has taken public transportation since high school.
She said she takes the Metra primarily during the weekdays to commute between her home and work. However, she viewed the changes as a welcome improvement to weekend travel.
“Since being a teenager, I always knew it’d be much more likely that I would need to call a rideshare to get to where I needed to go because of the limited availability of certain routes on the weekend,” Hamilton said.
She noted that while not cheaper than the CTA overall, the Metra is far better than other alternatives.
“Rideshare is so much more expensive, and my budgeting apps consistently remind me that I spend the most on Uber and Lyft,” Hamilton said. “So I definitely think that expanding (the Metra) is really important.”
Email: georgekoutrouvelis2029@u.northwestern.edu
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