Still more rail news for a busy Friday:
— Metra’s reverse-commute pilot program on its Milwaukee District North line is exceeding its ridership goals after one year. The two-year program, a collaboration of Metra and businesses in Lake County, Ill., set a goal of 600 new trips by the end of the second year, with a first-year goal of 300 trips. The service, which celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday, is averaging 550 new trips a day. “The results so far are more than encouraging – they are phenomenal,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. AbbVie, Horizon Therapeutics, Trustmark Insurance, Tenneco, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, Lake County government, the city of Lake Forest, Lake Forest Hospital, and the village of Deerfield are participating in the agreement with Metra.
— The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is urging railroads to take action to protect its members, their coworkers, and the public from the Covid-19 coronavirus with moves including suspension of attendance policies to encourage sick workers to stay home and providing high-quality disinfectant and hand sanitizers. Union president Dennis R. Pierce made the request in letters to Brendan Branon, chairman of the National Railway Labor Conference; Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Rairoad Association, and Paul Skoutelas, president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Assocation.
— The Phoenix-area Valley Metro transit system and Chicago’s Metra have become the latest agency to step up cleaning efforts over coronavirus concerns. The agency says it will wipe down frequently touched areas daily and disinfect them at least once a week, and is also conducting daily disinfecting of light rail stations, ticket vending machines, water fountains and other surfaces, the Arizona Republic reports. Metra also is paying extra attention to high-touch areas, cleans stations multiple times a week, and is increasing supplies of hygenic materials, WBBM-TV reports. The Chicago Transit Authority says it is not doing anything differently but emphasizes it already has rigorous cleaning procedures.
