Metra Prepping For Post-Pandemic Train Schedules With Rider Survey

CHICAGO, IL — Metra is seeking input from riders to create train schedules for a post-pandemic world.

Riders of all 11 Metra lines are encouraged to take a brief survey at metra.com/survey that will be used to guide schedule changes and upgrades, according to a news release.

The survey asks about customers’ origin and destination stations, usual trains, preferred arrival and departure times, and use of connecting services. It also asks riders to identify the most important scheduling feature that Metra could address and contains room for general comments.

“This survey will help us create schedules that do the best job possible of meeting the changing needs of My Metra riders following the pandemic,” Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in the news release. “We promise that we will consider every suggestion; however, we cannot promise that we can accommodate every one of them.”

Metra cut its schedules in half following a precipitous drop in ridership about two years ago, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has been restoring and adjusting schedules line-by-line, depending on a variety of factors, including ridership, feedback and worker availability.