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

Moderators: metraRI, JamesT4

  by lstone19
 
Certain Milwaukee District/North Central PM rush-hour trains operate westbound on Track 3. When stopping at Western Ave. on Track 1, I can see a sign on the station building listing the trains that do but it's too small/far away for me to read from the train. Anyone seen the sign and/or know which trains are supposed to use Track 3?

From personal experience, the following use Track 3 (time in parentheses is CUS departure time):
MD-W 2231 (1650) (no stop at Western)
NCS 111 (1658) (no stop at Western)
MD-W 2235 (1705)
MD-W 2239 (1723)9

I've also been on 2227 (1620) which uses Track 1. Riding on NCS 111 last night (a one-time need to get to Wheeling), it looked like 2233 (1655) used Track 1 unless that was a delayed MD-N train I saw.

It would be nice if Metra would note it in the timetable the way they do for UP=NW trains on the center track.
  by doepack
 
The trains you noted are correct, and should also include NCS 113, arriving Western at 1710. Even though the sign is posted on the station building next to the schedules, from my observations it's largely ignored, especially by those whom it would affect, and there is no corresponding sign on the other platform which complicates matters further. Since Metra began doing this a few years ago, many passengers became confused about what trains stop where during the PM rush, and my most recent train-watching visit there a few weeks ago confirms that this is still the case. A uniformed Metra policeman was on the scene doing his best to help folks out, but even he was confused at times; and I don't even want to think about what happens during delays. Sending some sort of alert to a smartphone/PDA is probably the best way to deal with this, since most folks appear to be too distracted to actually find out otherwise. And I fully agree that these "alternate boarding location" trains should be noted in the schedule, would definitely be a subject that Metra could address via OTBL...