Metra's mistake

Marni Pyke's article on Metra's plans to restore service makes no sense.

What alternate reality are she and Metra's board living in? Why is Metra restoring normal daily service while trains are two-thirds empty? Why incur the extra costs (not to mention carbon emissions) to run mostly empty trains? Metra likes to brag about how they save energy and the environment by taking cars off the roads, well they're not saving anything if the trains are empty, they're making it worse.

Or does Metra need to somehow justify their outrageous spending on all new locomotives and cars just to put some miles on the wheelsets? They just don't understand that pre-COVID commuting volumes are over, the riders are not coming back. Ever.

John Becker

Downers Grove