CTA riders may be able to use their fare cards on Metra during Red Line shutdown
BY TINA SFONDELES Transportation Reporter tsfondeles@suntimes.com June 13, 2012 5:32PM
A CTA train pulls into the Garfield Station on the Red Line. File Photo | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
Updated: July 15, 2012 3:21PM
CTA and Metra officials are trying to come up with a way to let CTA riders use their fare cards or passes to ride Metra Electric Line or Rock Island Line trains next year while the Red Line is shut down for five months on the South Side. They also are discussing the possibility of Metra running more trains to help pick up the slack during the rebuilding project that will shut down the Red Line L throughout the South Side. “We will figure out the best way to integrate Metra’s existing infrastructure to the extent that some of our South Side customers might have better options with Metra, or a connection with Metra that works,” CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday. “We’re going to make sure that’s done in a way that promotes it and that is seamless. . . . The commitment is there.” One complicating factor is that Metra doesn’t use an electronic fare system.
