CHICAGO — Metra will receive a federal grant of almost $170 million — the largest discretionary grant in its history — to buy battery-powered trainsets, the commuter rail operator announced Tuesday.
The grant under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program was approved last week by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee. It will support the purchase of up to 16 of the battery powered multiple-unit trainsets, which would be a new form of equipment for Metra. The commuter operator issued a Request for Proposal for such equipment in September 2022 and is currently reviewing the proposals it received.
“We think zero-emission trainsets could be an exciting and positive addition to Metra’s fleet for a variety of reasons,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “Beyond the environmental and noise reduction benefits, they also offer savings in energy consumption as well as better efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. Along with our other initiatives, they would continue to make Metra a responsible and effective leader in green energy technology.”
Battery-electric passenger equipment is currently in use in Europe and Australia, Metra says. Such systems can operate solely on rechargeable batteries or through a mix of catenary power and use of batteries where overhead wires are not available. The permanently or semi-permanently coupled trainsets would have lower rider capacity than Metra’s traditional diesel-powered trains, but accelerate and brake more quickly. They could be particularly well suited to service during off-peak period, Metra believes, and could play a significant role in its goal of providing so-called regional rail service, with more frequent all-day operations. The commuter operator also says the new equipment would allow it to retire some of its oldest, most polluting locomotives, as well as some of its oldest railcars.
Metra says it would likely introduce the equipment on its Rock Island District. This would be its second effort to introduce battery equipment on the Rock Island; an earlier plan to convert F40 locomotives to battery power, most likely for use on the Rock Island’s Beverly Branch, stalled when Metra and Progress Rail were unable to reach agreement on a contract for the conversions [see “Metra faces delay in plan for battery conversion …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2023]
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