CHICAGO — Metra has been awarded $19.3 million in its suit against Union Pacific over UP’s decision not to collect fares on Metra trains during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news report.
The suburban Daily Herald newspaper reports a Cook County, Ill., jury delivered the verdict on Wednesday. Metra spokesman Michael Gillis told the paper, “We have said all along that our obligation is to protect our customers and taxpayers of the region, and on their behalf we are gratified by this verdict.” Union Pacific indicated an appeal is possible, telling the paper in a statement, “We are disappointed in the jury’s decision and are exploring our post-trial options.”
The suit — just one facet of the contentious, litigious relationship between the commuter operator and freight railroad — dates to October 2020. All Metra lines stopped collecting fares in the early stages of the pandemic, but collection resumed in June 2020 on all but the UP North, Northwest, and West lines. At that time, UP operated those lines under a purchase-of-service agreement — Metra has since taken over operation — and cited the death of two employees and pandemic-related health concerns for the move. It did not resume any form of fare collection until it began checking tickets for arriving and departing passengers at the downtown Ogilvie Transportation Center on Oct. 5 of that year. Metra — which had said UP’s policy was costing it $1 million a month in lost fares — filed suit nine days later [see “Metra sues Union Pacific …,” Trains.com, Oct. 14, 2020].
Union Pacific eventually restored normal ticket procedures on June 1, 2021 [see “Union Pacific to resume fare collection …,” Trains.com, April 20, 2021].
The fare lawsuit is one of just several regulatory and legal battles in which the parties have been engaged since 2019, when UP expressed its desire to exit the commuter rail business. In the most recent developments, the sides have been unable to reach agreement on a new contract for Metra’s use of the UP lines; that led to a Surface Transportation Board decision in September awarding Metra trackage rights on the UP North, Northwest, and West lines [see “STB grants Metra request …,” Sept. 3, 2025]. Days later, UP sued Metra, seeking more than $2.2 million it said it was owed for the period between the June 30 expiration of the two sides’ previous contract and the STB decision. During that period, UP argues, Metra was bound by operating terms it had imposed on July 1 [see “Union Pacific sues Metra …,” Trains.com, Sept. 9, 2025].
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
I have one word to say about covid…..SWEDEN. Look it up.
I thought it was interesting that the crew would occasionally walk the train, but never checked tickets. The MDN, which was the only other line I rode during that time, they were business as usual, other than the masks…
Mr. Landey, I couldn’t agree with you more. The boxes of masks stated clearly that they would do nothing to prevent the spread of covid; only N95 or greater would stop those microbes. Regular masks were the equivalent of stopping a mosquito with a chain link fence. If you want real COVID deaths, subtract out those with multiple comorbidities + those killed with remdesivir in hospitals. The result is a regular flu season, still very sad but not at all what it was made out to be. And I’m glad to be a remdesivir survivor, enabling me to make the occasional cranky comment here 😉
METRA flipped its fare collection policy and UPRR was a little slow to follow the flip. The real fraud was America’s COVID policies of masks, lockdowns, work from home, the six-foot rule, social isolation, closing schools and churches — all of which were based on nothing.
Based on nothing? 13 people who I knew died of “nothing” during the first 18 months of this epidemic.
THOMAS — COVID was a real disease but the response (social distancing etc.) was based on nothing and did nothing to save lives or stop the spread of the virus.
My sympathies obviously for your losses. That I know of, everyone I ever met either didn’t get sick or recovered if they did get sick. The only person I knew of (never met, but knew of him) was listed as deceased from COVID, was terminally ill from other morbidities. If he actually did die of COVID, as opposed to his several other serious medical issues, it meant that he died a day or two earlier than he would have.
In my own case, I did everything I possibly could to disobey Fauciist fascism. The only reason I avoided crowds (like church, etc.) was because I couldn’t abide being told where to sit or when I could approach another person or what I was allowed to say about Fauci and my state and federal governments. I flew frequently to see family. I stopped volunteering for Habitat for Humanity because the required mask fogged up my safety glasses and I literally couldn’t see where I was going, let alone safely use power tools. During the entire epidemic, my body temperature never rose above 97.5F and even that was unusually high.
On the recommendation of my physician, the insistence of my wife, and by my own personal choice, I was vaccinated. All the rest, like masks and the inane six-foot rule, was nonsense.
So Charles, besides being a railfan and font of knowledge and experience in many thing rail, you are now also a epidemiologist, an immunologist, a virologist, and a social scientist?!?
Methinks you need to stay in your lane.
As a humble physician and a train enthusiast, I hope that our planet never experiences a problem like the COVID-19 pandemic again. Thankfully, the vaccine was made available to people without too much delay.