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Discussion related to commuter rail and rapid transit operations in the Chicago area including the South Shore Line, Metra Rail, and Chicago Transit Authority.

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 #1482429  by wilmette2008
 
So this past weekend was Lollapaloza, and I would like to know if anyone riders or employees got to experence the Lolla crowd? Adding to this on Sunday a kid was playing on the train tracks in front of the Wilmette Depot. They tried to deny him boarding but he managed to slip on, so the train called UP commuter control to have a special agent meet the train upon arrival downtown. Any one experience something similar?
 #1482432  by Milwaukee_F40C
 
I once saw a Metra conductor try to reprimand a person who crawled under the train I was on to get to the boarding side, saying he was going to get turned in to Amtrak police downtown. But he just ran off the train at the next stop. This was over twenty years ago.
 #1484359  by Tadman
 
Yes, I certainly had some laughs on the Thursday of Lolla on the South Shore. I was inbound around 2pm from Shops to downtown. The train was packed with revelers. The first thing I thought was "holy toledo, you're not anywhere near their age...". I'm 36, it didn't seem like that long ago my friends were the festival-goers.

Once I get on, a 22-ish man sits down next to me in festive garb, while I'm dressed in business attire. The young man asks me (I think he was a bit drunk or high)

young man: "sir, are you going to a business meeting?".

I reply "why no, I'm going to Lolla and getting totally wasted up this afternoon".

Young man: "oh, because you could confuse me, you look like a businessman"

Me: "Yeah, you got me, I'm going to a meeting then having dinner with my girlfriend"

Him: "and then you're going to get wasted, right?"

Me: "uh, sure? maybe not"...

It was quite funny, and the crowd was reasonably well behaved. I can't complain.
 #1485143  by wilmette2008
 
My question is how common is it for Meta/UP/BNSF conductors to have to turn a passenger into the RR Police upon arrival downtown?
 #1485259  by qboy
 
It can happen at times. It really depends on the situation if your out in the suburbs and still have many stops to make it would make more since to have the local police deal with it right there in that town. At other times if the train is express and the next stop is downtown it can be easier to just call ahead and the the police waiting upon arrival.
 #1486831  by wilmette2008
 
qboy wrote:It can happen at times. It really depends on the situation if your out in the suburbs and still have many stops to make it would make more since to have the local police deal with it right there in that town. At other times if the train is express and the next stop is downtown it can be easier to just call ahead and the the police waiting upon arrival.
You mean have the Railroad Police meet the train downtown?
 #1486871  by qboy
 
wilmette2008 wrote:
qboy wrote:It can happen at times. It really depends on the situation if your out in the suburbs and still have many stops to make it would make more since to have the local police deal with it right there in that town. At other times if the train is express and the next stop is downtown it can be easier to just call ahead and the the police waiting upon arrival.
You mean have the Railroad Police meet the train downtown?
Yeah usually on rare occurrence its been CPD.
 #1487258  by wilmette2008
 
qboy wrote:
wilmette2008 wrote:
qboy wrote:It can happen at times. It really depends on the situation if your out in the suburbs and still have many stops to make it would make more since to have the local police deal with it right there in that town. At other times if the train is express and the next stop is downtown it can be easier to just call ahead and the the police waiting upon arrival.
You mean have the Railroad Police meet the train downtown?
Yeah usually on rare occurrence its been CPD.
I'm gonna guess that 95% of the time its either Metra or Union Pacific PD?
 #1505215  by pudgym29
 
Greetings, Railroad .net forum members.
I mildly regret having to revive this old thread in order to introduce myself here.
I tried posting a comprehensive response elsewhere on here. A moderator intervened, e-mailing, asking for "proof" that the links to on-topic content were valid - not spam or malware - and I responded. But that does not have seemed to assuage him.
So this shall have to be my 'first' post.
I take advantage of the Thursday + Friday Lollapalooza Metra Rail Pass {there would have been a link there, but I am not passing any links until I actually get approved here} to go to those Metra train lines which do not run on Saturday and Sunday. This includes the Metra Heritage District (for the Pollyanna brewery in Lemont), and the North Central Service (for the Prairie Krafts Brwg. in Buffalo Grove).
Is this a clue for which I ride trains to go to craft brewing breweries and venues?
In the summer 2018, I went to seventy breweries listed in the Illinois Craft Beer 'Passport' {another link withheld}. I did not operate a motor vehicle to ANY of them!
I urge Metra to sell a Thursday + Friday rail pass | open ticket other times of the year. I would not expect it to do so for every week of the year. I would accept it being four times a year, in February, May, August, and November; coinciding with other events occurring at the time {May would be for Illinois Craft Beer Week}.

I hope the moderators here see fit to approve this reply. Thank you.
 #1505395  by doepack
 
I do not, and nor should you, expect Metra to issue a four day weekend pass for any other summer festival event outside of Lolla. Even with flat to slightly declining attendance over the last few years, Lolla remains the only event that justifies adding two days to the discount by consistently filling trains for the whole weekend; especially on BNSF. So, this will likely continue to be your annual opportunity to use the four day pass to visit the breweries of your choice.

As for the other festivals, the numbers just aren't there, and isn't worth practically giving the rides away. The regular $10 weekend ticket is good enough otherwise...
 #1505407  by eolesen
 
Yep. Metra's primary customer base is its monthly and regular commuters, not the weekend sometimes riders. And Thursday/Friday are still work days.

For the record, history has shown that regulars tend to stay off the trains on days like the Cubs Victory Parade or other events that bring hoards of half-dressed sweaty younglings to the trains....
 #1515378  by wilmette2008
 
Lolla stars Thrusday,
Last year on my way to work on Lolla Thrusday a female passenger around 14 years old had a medical emergency at Ravenswood. As a CFD engine was pulling up a passenger shouted, "Fire Truck we need a fucking Ambulance!" Someone should remind him that its very common in this day and age to send a fire truck or engine often responds either before or with the ambulance.
 #1515463  by Backshophoss
 
FD Paramedics do ride Fire Equipment to rescue calls,and carry the gear that's needed as well.
Depending on the city/town,the ambulance is contracted out to a pvt company at times.
 #1515595  by JamesT4
 
Topic Locked while it’s under review. Any parallel topics will be locked and deleted.
 #1516172  by JamesT4
 
I have reopened this thread. Please keep on topic on this forum please Thank You.