You won't notice the difference when you board a Metra train at Central Street, Davis Street, or Main Street, but the 800 people who run and repair the trains now work for the commuter agency instead of for the freight railroad, Union Pacific.
Despite a few years of on-and-off court and administrative fights over UP's efforts to get out of commuter train operations, the train service turnover on Friday occurred without ceremony on three Chicagoland routes.
"Didn't notice a switch?" said a Metra website post.
"Good, that's what we intended. When Union Pacific announced several years back that it wanted to stop operating passenger trains on its North, Northwest and West lines, both UP and Metra pushed for a transition that would not be noticeable to riders."
Metra has been paying UP to operate the commuter trains since 1995, and the freight company will still own the tracks.
According to Trains Magazine's Newswire, the UP North through Evanston carries the second-highest number of passengers among Metra's 11 lines. The BNSF line to Aurora is first.
The Newswire also states that "The quiet operating handoff belied an oft-contentious and litigious changeover process that is still ongoing," because the financial terms of Metra's takeover have not yet been agreed upon.
Metra spokesperson Gillis told Evanston Now that "We are still negotiating" on that.
"Service," he said, "will continue without interruption while the negotiations go on."
However, there's a chance of massive service interruptions for all Chicagoland mass transit -- Metra, CTA, and PACE -- in 2026 unless the state legislature finds a way to cover a $770 million "fiscal cliff," as federal COVID relief funding runs out.
Transit officials had said there could be 40% service reductions unless the finances are shored up.