Better be safe with delays, than not

This is in response to the June 5 letter from Larry Schneider of Buffalo Grove, ("The train's almost never on time").

I, too, am a daily commuter on the Metra's North Central line in Grayslake. In reference to the trains being canceled one day last week (Friday, May 30), the trains were not canceled, but instead were running 70-80 minutes behind schedule due to a car/train incident at the routes 120/83 grade crossing in Grayslake.

This had nothing to do with Metra as it was a northbound CN freight that hit a car. Yes, this became a major inconvenience, but cannot be blamed on Metra.

The instances of the trains running behind schedule on the other days referenced were due to signal problems. These signals, as well as the rails, belong to the Wisconsin Central/Canadian National, not Metra, who lease these rails for commuter use.

Like traffic signals that malfunction, trains cannot proceed through red lights without specific instruction from a dispatcher. This situation repeats itself at every signal block. When there are numerous signal blocks, this will add time to a commute.

While I am not always happy with delays, I would prefer to have time added to my commute, but commute in a safe manner, rather than to proceed and hope there is nothing up ahead.

Metra's North Central line does a fairly good job of holding to a schedule, considering it has to work around, or between, all the freight traffic that runs on these rails -- rails that belong to the freight company.

Craig Vogel

Grayslake