Metra's BNSF Line Sees Far Fewer Riders

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Metra is increasing the number of trains on its BNSF line starting next Monday to 91, from 86.

Metra's BNSF line goes through La Grange, Western Springs and Hinsdale, among other towns.

Ridership on the BNSF line is averaging about 19,000 passenger trips each weekday, about 30 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

The line's schedule changes are in response to rider requests as well as continued monitoring of ridership patterns, according to a Metro news release.

To accommodate the new trains, Metra is making numerous changes to departure times and stopping patterns across the weekday schedule, the release said. No changes are being made to weekend service.

Before the pandemic, Metra ran 97 trains on its BNSF line, not many more than today. Metra received $1.1 billion in pandemic relief, about a third of which has been spent, spokesman Michael Gillis told Patch in an interview Monday.

"The idea is to be ready when people will come back," he said. "The last thing we want to happen is people to come back and encounter crowded conditions immediately. It will be a process to get everyone back. It will probably take two years."

Last week, Metra saw the highest ridership since before the pandemic, Gillis said.