Metra gearing up for winter storms

With winter storms in Chicago’s weekend forecast, Metra said it was mobilizing its crews to get ahead of problems.

“Metra has made a variety of improvements that leave us well-prepared for winter’s onslaught, including more and better switch heaters and better jet blowers to clear snow,” said Metra Executive Director and CEO Don Orseno.

Preparations included:

• Dispatching signal/switch maintainers to key locations and staffing them 24/7 to keep switches free of ice and snow;

• sending out 350 workers to shovel and salt station platforms;

• putting crews and equipment in place to keep rail yards free from bottlenecks;

• fueling locomotives overnight instead of during midday servicing, since fueling during storms can take longer;

• Metra will also leave locomotives on overnight if temperatures fall too low;

• running “ice trains” overnight on the Electric Line to prevent ice accumulation on overhead power lines.

Customers can get information about Metra service and delays during the storms through email, the Ventra app, at http://www.metrarail.com and on Twitter.