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6/19/2025
Chicago commuter railroad Metra will receive more than $104 million in grants through the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's (CMAP) 2026-2030 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.
The funding includes $80 million for renovation of the Van Buren Street Station on the Metra Electric Line, $23.2 million for the purchase of three electric switch locomotives and $800,000 for improvements to the Edgebrook Station on the Milwaukee District North Line, Metra officials said in a press release.
"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," said Metra Executive Director and CEO Jim Derwinski.
The Van Buren Street Station project will be funded with the CMAQ grant plus $10 million through the federal Urbanized Area Formula Funding program and $24.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. Metra will provide $20 million in matching funds.
Construction is expected to begin in late 2028, Metra officials said. The 129-year-old Van Buren Street Station is located below street level, and decades of water infiltration have damaged the historic facility's pedestrian areas.
Metra is providing $5.8 million in local funding to match the $23.2 million CMAQ grant for the three battery-electric switch locomotives, which will replace some of railroad's oldest, most polluting locomotives. The purchase will serve as a pilot project to test battery-electric technology on the Metra system.
The $800,000 CMAQ grant for the Edgebrook Station will fund improvements to the inbound platform and entrances, add a warming shelter, expand the inbound platform existing shelter, add ADA-compliant curb ramps and bicycle parking. That project is also being funded by a $1.2 million grant secured by U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), $100,000 in Regional Transportation Authority funding and another $100,000 in Metra funding.