Stepping on a Metra train can sometimes feel like stepping back in time.
The commuter railroad keeps an aging fleet. Its train cars are 32 years old, on average. Its oldest train car was built in 1953.
The feeling was different Wednesday when some Metra commuters got a sneak peek at the railroad’s potential future.
Metra is showing the public a battery-powered train, the first built for use in North America, that could start running in 2028. The public can examine the machine, inside and out, at the LaSalle Street Station in the Loop through 6 p.m. Thursday.
Each single-level passenger car is painted green and blue. It has modern seats similar to those on Metra’s most up-to-date quiet cars. Luggage racks, with coat hooks, span the length of the cars. There are a few tables with seating for four. The two on display Wednesday and Thursday have engineer cabs with a seat for the operator at one end.
A short car filled with lithium-ion batteries connects between the two passenger cars. People can pass through the battery car but not loiter (according to warning signs) in a narrow, brightly lit hallway similar to a spaceship interior from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
“It just feels like you’re stepping into the future,” says Josh Dohrmann, 30, a Metra user who took the 1-hour-45-minute ride down from Kenosha on the UP-North line. He was one of the first members of the public to examine the train after it was unveiled last week at a transit expo at McCormick Place.
The public could start riding the train in March 2028, when it will be put into use on Metra’s Rock Island line to Blue Island.
The 15-mile route, shorter than other Metra lines, is perfect for battery-powered trains, Metra CEO Jim Derwinski said. The trains have a 70-mile capacity, are quieter and cause fewer ground vibrations than the diesel locomotives now used. That’s a benefit to the South Side homes close to the tracks, Derwinski said.
Since they’re smaller, the battery-powered trains could one day help add more frequent off-peak service to address the growing need for non-traditional commutes, Derwinski said in 2024 when Metra first announced plans to buy the trains.
Metra is spending $234 million to purchase this train and seven more expected to be delivered by the end of 2028, according to Metra spokesman Michael Gillis.
When they go into service, each train will have two additional, single-level passenger cars equipped with restrooms, Gillis said. Those cars will be tucked between the two outer passenger cars, like the ones on display. Those outer cars each contain an engineer cab.
The public unveiling was preceded by a short speaking program by Metra leaders and politicians who hailed the Stadler USA-built train as the future of public transportation.
Stadler has built similar battery-powered trains in Europe. The company calls them FLIRT trains, short for Fast Light Innovative Regional Train. There’s a hydrogen-powered one in California, and a diesel version in Dallas.
The trains can go fast, and are similar to ones expected to be used by the proposed O’Hare Flyer. But they will be limited to 79 mph, the current speed limit for Metra trains, Gillis said.
The train on display is not ready for public use, as it lacks batteries, Gillis said. After those are installed, the train will go to Colorado for extensive federal testing before it will be allowed to carry passengers.
