STB Grants Metra’s ‘Terminal Trackage Rights’ Application
Regional/commuter rail operator Metra and UP have been negotiating the transfer of commuter rail services on the three lines—the Union Pacific North, Northwest, and West—for several years. UP has historically provided service for Metra under a PSA (Purchase of Service Agreement), which has been extended several times while the railroads negotiate a new agreement.
Approximately 39% of Metra’s annual ridership (13.7 million out of a total 35 million passengers) is associated with the three lines owned, used and dispatched by UP (see map, below). Those lines were once operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway: the West Line to Elburn, the Northwest Line to Harvard and McHenry, and the North Line to Waukegan, with limited service to Kenosha, Wis. Metra has eight other lines; one of which, the historic Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line to Aurora, runs on right-of-way owned by BNSF, which still operates it under contract with Metra.
Metra’s March 7, 2025, application for terminal trackage rights “states that ‘substantial progress’ has been made, and that as of May 16, 2025, Metra for the first time will be solely responsible for operating the commuter rail service on the UP Lines,” according to the STB’s recent decision (download below). “However, despite their efforts, including Board-sponsored mediation in Docket No. FD 36800 that concluded unsuccessfully in December 2024, the parties have been unable to reach agreement regarding an appropriate ‘interest rental’ or access fee for the UP Lines … During the transition, until recently, Metra and UP had agreed on short-term extensions of the PSA (usually 30 to 90 days) … However, in view of the parties’ impasse on the access fee and uncertainty that the short-term extensions would continue, Metra filed this application seeking terminal trackage rights over the UP Lines.”
Metra filed the application under § 11102(a), “which provides that ‘[t]he Board may require terminal facilities, including main-line tracks for a reasonable distance outside of a terminal, owned by a rail carrier . . . to be used by another rail carrier’ if it finds that specified criteria are met,” according to the STB. The federal agency explained that Metra proposed three alternatives for defining a terminal area for purposes of this proceeding:
- “First, Metra asserts that the UP Lines that are the subject of its application ‘function and operate as a terminal area or as part of the larger Metra system terminal area.’ … Metra explains its view that Metra’s commuter rail system, including the three UP Lines, ‘functions as and constitutes a unified terminal,’ … and exists within a commercially cohesive area known as Chicagoland. … Metra contends that the UP Lines that exist within this terminal are not too long to be considered terminal facilities.”
- “Second, Metra asserts that the UP Lines are part of a larger Chicago rail terminal area overseen by the Chicago Planning Group (CPG), described as ‘a consortium of freight, passenger, and commuter railroads, established in 2000 to monitor freight and passenger train performance and develop solutions to daily operating problems to promote efficiency and safety.’ … According to Metra, both UP and Metra are members and active participants in the CPG and the entities that operate under its auspices—the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office (CTCO) and the Chicago Integrated Rail Operations Center (CIROC)—to collect real-time data, review routes and schedules, identify potential operational problems, and mobilize the equipment and personnel needed to keep traffic moving through the city. … Metra states that the CTCO defines its territory as extending one crew district from the downtown Chicago freight terminal district.”
- “Finally, Metra asserts that the terminal area could consist of the Chicago Freight Terminal … in which the three UP Lines at issue originate, and that the remainder of each of the UP Lines is within a reasonable distance of the terminal for purposes of § 11102(a).” It noted that “UP Lines used by Metra outside of the CFT are within a ‘reasonable distance’ of the CFT and thus eligible to host Metra trackage rights under § 11102(a).”
The Board said it “construe[d] the terminal area in this proceeding as the Chicago Freight Terminal (or CFT),” as both Metra and UP “acknowledge that the CFT qualifies as a terminal area under any definition the Board may apply.”
According to the STB, Section 11102(a) also provides that “the Board may require terminal facilities owned by a rail carrier to be used by another rail carrier ‘if the Board finds that use to be practicable and in the public interest without substantially impairing the ability of the rail carrier owning the facilities . . . to handle its own business.’”
“Metra states that the parties’ long experience under the PSA demonstrates that use of the UP Lines for commuter rail service is practicable and does not substantially impair UP’s operations,” the STB wrote in its decision. “Metra maintains that the transfer of operational responsibility from UP to Metra, and Metra’s use of trackage rights to operate the service, will not reduce that practicability or impair UP’s operations … Metra explains that UP will continue to maintain and dispatch the UP Lines; that Metra’s trains will transport the same rolling stock over the same routes using essentially the same operating personnel (who have been transferred from UP to Metra); and that the workforce that maintains equipment and provides passenger services will also include the same experienced personnel who previously performed those functions for UP and are now Metra employees. … Metra also points to capital improvements and several technologies implemented in recent decades that it contends will help ensure safe, efficient commuter operations over the UP Lines going forward. … Metra states that, to Metra’s understanding, UP does not dispute that the use of the UP Lines for commuter service has been and would remain practicable, and that UP’s ability to handle its own business has not been, and will not be, impaired.”
The Board also reported finding Metra’s request for trackage rights “is in the public interest.”
“Metra provides a vital public service over the UP Lines to suburban residents north and west of Chicago and has done so for decades,” the STB wrote in its decision. “According to Metra, it serves a total of 66 stations along the UP Lines, which in 2024 supported more than 13 million passenger trips and accounted for 39% of Metra’s total annual ridership. … Metra states that it has invested more than $1 billion in public funds in the UP Lines to improve UP’s infrastructure and make it fully functional for combined passenger and freight use. … Metra’s opening submission also describes that dozens of communities were planned and built along the UP Lines, details the many public benefits its service provides, and asserts that even a temporary cessation of service would have wide-ranging and harmful economic and social impacts. The Board finds that there is a strong public interest in having this service continue, and … the record demonstrates that Board intervention is warranted to ensure that result.”
What Happens Next?
The STB reported that it “expects and encourages Metra and UP to undertake a concerted, good faith effort to reach agreement on terms and compensation for Metra’s use of the UP Lines.” If they cannot reach an agreement, however, the Board said it will “establish the compensation and conditions of use in accordance with the statute.”
Metra in its application asked the STB to “set a reasonable and prompt deadline for the parties to establish agreed conditions and compensation for Metra’s use of the facilities, or report to the Board that they cannot agree.” While the Board said it “does not typically set a deadline by which the parties must complete the negotiation process under § 11102(a) and will not do so here,” it is directing them to “submit a joint status report, if possible, or separate reports by November 3, 2025, stating whether they have reached agreement, require additional time, or are unable to agree.” If additional time is required, the STB said, further status reports should be filed every 60 days. “If or to the extent the parties are unable to agree, either party may request the Board to establish compensation and/or conditions of use,” it noted. “The request must identify the disputed issue(s) and be accompanied by a proposed procedural schedule for the Board’s consideration to govern the process for resolving any remaining issues pertaining to compensation or conditions of use. The other party may file a written response to the request within 20 days.”
Further Reading:
- STB Denies Metra’s Request for Temporary Injunction
- Metra to STB: Ensure Passenger Service on UP Lines ‘Continues Uninterrupted’
- UP, Metra Move Closer to Service Transfer
- STB Orders Mediation for UP, Metra
- Judge Pronounces Common Carrier Obligation for ‘Commuter Rail’ Dead
- Report: RTA Redirects Funds From Metra, Pace to Prevent CTA Service Reductions
