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Michael McLaughlin at (202) 225-5701

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 1999

[Washington, DC] — Last week U.S. Congressman Bill Lipinski (3^rd-IL) sent a series of letters to various officials at Metra, the State of Illinois, various freight railroads, Amtrak, select Members of the Illinois General Assembly and others highlighting the need for more frequent and improved service on Metra's Illinois Central Heritage Corridor. Metra trains run on the Heritage Corridor from Chicago to Joliet with two round trips daily and four stops at Lockport, Lemont, Willow Springs, and Summit. Due to delays at rail to rail crossings, Amtrak and Metra trains currently require from 50 to 100 minutes to traverse the 37-mile segment.

Congressman Lipinski wrote to Jeffrey Ladd, Chairman of Metra,

"Currently, the Heritage Corridor is the worst on time performer of all Metra routes... The residents of Chicago's southwest suburbs who commute to and from the city are in desperate need of an alternative transportation route the next two years while the Stevenson Expressway is under construction. The Heritage Metra line is the most logical alternative. I understand that Metra has recently announced adding a third roundtrip train to the Heritage line. I thank you for this effort to improve service. However, as long as the Heritage Metra line experiences prolonged delays, an extra train will not provide much relief for the 141,000 commuters that travel on the Stevenson each day. Adding a third train is a good start, but it is just a first step and much more needs to be done to benefit commuters of the southwest suburbs... I ask that you work with me to increase Metra's investment on the Heritage corridor by providing financial assistance and by adding more Metra trains to the line."

To remedy the situation, Congressman Lipinski proposed that four grade separations be constructed to alleviate delays on Metra trains caused by multiple rail to rail crossings. He also proposed various track and signaling work and the construction of a Metra station stop near Midway airport. The estimated cost of the whole project is approximately $200 million.

In addition to writing to Amtrak to ask for their support for the project, Congressman Lipinski today wrote a follow-up letter to Amtrak President George Warrington asking him to add another Amtrak stop along the Heritage Corridor. In the letter, Lipinski writes,

"Currently, Metra does not have any early afternoon service. This severely hampers commuters' efforts to get home early to do such important things such as seeing their children's school and athletic events. However, it has come to my attention that Amtrak has a 3:30 p.m. outbound (southbound) train that stops in Summit. Therefore, I ask for your consideration of adding another Amtrak stop at one or more stations along the Heritage Corridor that would help commuters get home to their loved ones. You can rest assured that this addition would be greatly appreciated by all residents who live along the Heritage Corridor."

Other than the necessary upgrade of the Heritage Corridor and the addition of trains and stops to the Metra line, Congressman Lipinski also asked some freight railroads and elected officials to work together to prevent freight trains from blocking Metra trains. This would provide immediate relief to Metra riders. However, in the long run, Congressman Lipinski noted that for this project to work it needs to be constructed incrementally with cooperation and funding from a variety of sources.