CHICAGO — Metra will receive more than $104 million in grants for station projects and the purchase of three electric switching locomotives, the commuter rail operator has announced.
The funding will come from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The money will include $80 million for renovation of the Van Buren Street station on the Metra Electric Line; $23.7 million for the locmootibes, and $800,000 for improvements to the Edgebrook station on the Milwaukee District North Line.
“We’re grateful CMAP has seen the value of these projects to the region and included funding them in the 2026-2030 CMAP program,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “Each of these three projects will help us address the goals of the CMAQ program to reduce congestion and pollution levels by improving and strengthening the sustainability of our transit system.”
The Van Buren station project will also be funded through $10 million in federal Urbanized Area Formula Funding and $24.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) program for infrastructure projects, and $20 million from Metra. The 129-year-old station, located below grade adjacent to Grant Park, has sustained decades of water damage, requiring a complete rehabilitation. Construction is expected to begin in 2028.
So, in addition to all the other subsidies, METRA gets another subsidy.
I’m not opposed to any of these subsidies. It’s just that I’d love to have it all in one budget line so we’d have transparency as to the full amount.
” locmootibes”? Proof read, proof read!