By Passenger Train Journal Staff
Metra announced this week that it would spend $335.4 million to acquire a fleet of zero-emission, battery-powered trainsets for use on the Rock Island Line’s Beverly Branch between LaSalle St. Station in downtown Chicago and Blue Island. Metra plans on buying eight, two-car battery-powered trainsets with an option for eight more trainsets and up to 32 trailer cars, which could be added to the two-car trainsets to create three or four-car trains.
If successful, Metra would be the first railroad in the country to use the zero-emission trainsets, which have previously been used in Europe.
“This purchase demonstrates Metra’s commitment to cleaner power, to quieter trains, and to thinking outside the box as we plan for our future,” said Metra CEO/Executive Jim Derwinski. “We are excited to bring this technology, and its efficiency, flexibility, and reliability, to Chicago and to our riders.”
The trains will be built by Stadler U.S. near Salt Lake City. The trainsets will have low-level boarding and will be equipped with lifts to make them ADA-compliant. Each two-car set will seat 112 people, and each additional trailer car will provide seating for about 46 people. The single-level sets will have open gangways so riders can move freely from car to car. They will include such features as passenger information signs, bike racks, luggage racks and USB outlets. Half of the trailer cars, if purchased, would include ADA-accessible bathrooms.
A fully charged trainset is expected to have a range of 45 to 65 miles. Charging time will vary, but going from a 20 percent charge to 80 percent – enough for the trainset to operate – is expected to take about 20 to 30 minutes. The exact charging infrastructure and its cost is yet to be determined.
Metra plans to introduce the trainsets between LaSalle St. and Blue Island on the Beverly Branch of the Rock Island Line, a distance of 16.4 miles. That would directly benefit the air quality in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago and in the near south suburbs.
Buying the trainsets would allow Metra to retire some of its oldest, most polluting diesel locomotives, which are well beyond their useful life, and eliminate tons of carbon emissions. It would also allow Metra to retire some of its oldest railcars.