Metra on June 18 reported that the funding was approved as part of CMAP’s 2026-30 regional CMAQ program. It includes $80 million for the renovation of the historic Van Buren Street Station on the Metra Electric Line (see map below); $23.7 million for the purchase of three electric switchers; and $800,000 for improvements to the Edgebrook Station on the Milwaukee District North Line.
The Van Buren Street Station project will also be funded through $10 million in federal Urbanized Area Formula Funding (Section 5307) and $24.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, according to the railroad. Metra said it will provide $20 million in local matching funds. Construction is expected to begin in late 2028.
The 129-year-old Van Buren Street Metra Station is located below street level on the east side of Michigan Avenue adjacent to Grant Park. “Decades of water infiltration has damaged the historic facility’s pedestrian tunnels and waiting area, requiring a complete rehabilitation,” the railroad reported. While maintaining the station’s historic character, it noted, the project will provide waterproofing, enclosed platform warming shelters, digital signage, and a modern green roof system. The plans also include two new elevators on the east side of Michigan Avenue improving ADA accessibility.
Edgebrook Station will see ADA and state-of-good-repair improvements, according to the railroad.
Both station projects are part of Metra’s 2025 capital program, which includes $34.9 million for station and parking improvements; $48.1 million for track maintenance; $46.2 million for bridge projects; $5.9 million for rail crossing replacements; and $39.2 million for signal, electrical, and communications maintenance and upgrades.
“We’re grateful CMAP has seen the value of these projects to the region and included funding them in the 2026-2030 CMAP program,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski said. “Each of these three projects will help us address the goals of the CMAQ program to reduce congestion and pollution levels by improving and strengthening the sustainability of our transit system.”
Separately, Metra last fall took delivery of all 15 SD70-MACH locomotives that it ordered from Progress Rail in 2019. Metra also has 200 new multilevel cars on the way. The railroad in spring 2021 awarded a $775.4 million contract to Alstom, which is building the cars in upstate New York. Also, Metra in 2022 awarded Progress Rail a $34.6 million contract to convert up to six of its oldest diesel-electric locomotives to zero-emission battery power. The contract called for a base order of three locomotives with options for three more.
Jim Derwinski will take part in the third-annual in-person Women in Rail Conference, hosted by Railway Age and RT&S in Chicagoland on Oct. 15-16. For more details, click here.
