BNSF maintenance to bring Metra schedule changes, grade-crossing closures Sept. 17-20

 

An eastbound BNSF intermodal train passes maintenance of way equipment in Western Springs, Ill., on Aug. 14, 2020. Work beginning Thursday evening on the BNSF mainline west of Chicago will cause Metra schedule changes and shut down a number of grade crossings.

TRAINS: David Lassen

BNSF maintenance to bring Metra schedule changes, grade-crossing closures Sept. 17-20
BNSF Line will see schedule changes, including some train cancellations, and closures of major grade crossings during a four-day maintenance project to replace 11,000 ties over a nearly 15-mile stretch of the three-track BNSF main line between Berwyn and Downers Grove, Ill. The project will begin the evening of Thursday, Sept. 17, and conclude on Sunday, Sept. 20. BNSF track gangs will work 12-hour shifts as part of the project. Similar intense maintenance projects have been held previously, most recently last October [see “BNSF track work to alter Metra schedules Oct. 25-27,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 24, 2019]. “BNSF clearly demonstrated over the past several years with similar tie replacement projects that a condensed timeline benefits our riders by reducing the impacts of slow orders and train schedule changes,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. Details on the schedule changes and grade-crossing closures are available here.