Metra BNSF Line Schedule Changes Go Into Effect
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Big changes are underway as thousands of people who ride Metra's BNSF line adjust to new schedules.
CBS 2's Suzanne LeMignot reports the Positive Train Control safety system (PTC) is federally mandated and automatically stops a train if an engineer doesn't obey a signal or goes over the speed limit.
The goal is to prevent tragedies like the train derailment incident near Tacoma, Washington last December which was caused by excessive speed. The Metra BNSF line is the first of the system's 11 lines to use PTC.
"It was very crowded. It was on time, I guess if you want to call something beneficial about the whole thing, but it was not great. Day one, not great," stated Dawn Ternes, BNSF Line Commuter.
Metra Spokesman, Michael Gillis, said, "There was some crowding on some trains. We are going to keep an eye on that. We're not going to change anything right away. We're going to wait and see what happens. We're not going to act on just one day's worth of data."
Departure and arrival times needed to be changed to accommodate for PTC. It takes 12 to 13 minutes to get an arriving train ready for departure with the new safety system.
"I do think it's a good idea," stated Andrea Turner, a BNSF line commuter. "But there's a lot of people that are set in their everyday schedules that will have to make adjustments in their daily schedule, so that will be tough on their end."
"It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks, you know, if they add cars, if there is enough for the commuters," stated Ternes.
Gillis said, "We are monitoring it very closely. If we see patterns emerge, need to be addressed, we will take a look at addressing them."
Metra plans to have all lines PTC operational by the end of 2020.
