WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees U.S. railroads says he may attempt to strip Amtrak of operational control of Chicago Union Station via legislation unless Amtrak agrees to relinquish control to Metra, whose commuters make up 90 percent of the station’s passengers.
U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski has repeatedly called on Amtrak to cede operational control at Union Station, but he has been rebuffed by the passenger railroad. The Illinois Democrat’s most recent urging came at a hearing last Wednesday of the House Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.
Citing a litany of problems at Union Station affecting Metra and Amtrak passengers, Lipinski argued that improvements must be made. “I believe the best way to do this would be for Amtrak to give up operational control of the station to Metra to ensure that its operations improve to the level that passengers deserve,” he stated.
In a followup statement to Trains News Wire, Lipinski’s office says “the Congressman is strongly considering adding a mandate in the 2020 Amtrak reauthorization bill that would strip Amtrak of operational control.”
Before that would happen, two conditions would need to be met, a Lipinski spokesman says: First, the Congressman would need to be convinced by outside experts that Metra has the technical ability to operate Union Station; and second, that there are no national implications to a Metra takeover unbeknownst to him.
Lipinski’s Chicago-area district encompasses a large chunk of Metra territory. “I remain focused on a big issue to my constituents and the Chicago region, Amtrak’s stewardship of Chicago Union Station,” he said in his opening remarks.
“Tens of thousands of my constituents take trains in and out of [Union Station] every day. Ninety percent of all passengers who pass through are passengers of Metra commuter rail. Amtrak has had some major issues this year at [the station], including falling concrete at the station that hit a Metra train and a disastrous service outage in February that lasted through multiple rush hours that was solely Amtrak’s fault.”
Amtrak says it remains committed to keeping control of Union Station ownership or operations.
At Wednesday’s hearing, CEO and President Richard Anderson testified that Amtrak dispatches Metra trains with a 99% on-time rate and that it plans to continue to do so.
Previously, Metra CEO Jim Derwinski said it was very important for Metra to “have control over our own destiny” at Union Station.
In a statement to Trains News Wire, Metra reiterates that it still seeks ownership or control of the station’s transportation assets, but not the commercial space, during ongoing negotiations with Amtrak over a new lease.
“We appreciate Rep. Lipinski’s support for our position,” Metra says.
Metra paid Amtrak $9.7 million in 2018 under its lease agreement, according to Metra. Both sides have asked the Surface Transportation Board to help resolve the lease dispute.
Lipinski previously requested that Amtrak relinquish operations or ownership of Union Station at a hearing in April in Chicago. Lipinski called the session to address chronic delays and cancellations for Metra and Amtrak passengers at the station.
But Amtrak turned that down [see “Amtrak rejects ceding Union Station control to Metra,” Trains News Wire, April 17, 2019] as well as a request from Lipinski that Amtrak reimburse Metra commuters who were victims of a massive signal failure at Union Station on Feb. 28.
Lipinski called that incident “a completely avoidable failure of epic proportions.”
Officials said “human error” by an Amtrak employee accidentally knocked out computer servers that control the station’s signals and switches. [See “Amtrak CEO says ‘human error’ caused signal problems that snarled traffic at Chicago Union Station,” Trains News Wire, March 1, 2019.]
