In addition, on-board announcements will be automated in a similar fashion, along with an upgraded speaker system. It should be fabulous, once fully rolled out.
Great to hear this!
I rode earlier in the month and I thought I was back on the New York City Subway with how bad the speaker system was (I was in one of the #30 series cars)...
Concurrently, NICTD has leased 26 of the Nippon Sharyo "Highliner Is" from Metra, of similar design to the 300-series that NICTD already operates, as part of a fleet expansion for the Double Track services. There will be plenty of equipment, all of it compatible with both the new and existing lines.
Does Metra plan on getting more electric cars? Or were these surplus?
The Metra cars were available because Metra is still not back to their pre-Covid capacity and likely never will be.
Sorta. This plan was in the works even before COVID. Metra ordered too many cars because they expected ridership growth. Instead, they got a slow decline. So even with pre-pandemic ridership, they were looking to make this deal. NICTD gets cheap extra equipment, while Metra gets some return on equipment that otherwise would be surplus. Win-win and an excellent example of transit agencies working together.
