On Tuesday, Chicago’s Metra announced it was awarded its largest discretionary grant, $169.3 million, to buy battery-operated, zero-emission trainsets.
The grant, a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) grant, was approved last week by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee. It will make Metra among the first transit agencies in the United States to operate the innovative green technology, the agency said.
“We think zero-emission trainsets could be an exciting and positive addition to Metra’s fleet for a variety of reasons,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said. “Beyond the environmental and noise reduction benefits, they also offer savings in energy consumption as well as better efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. Along with our other initiatives, they would continue to make Metra a responsible and effective leader in green energy technology.”
Battery-operated trainsets are currently in use in Germany, France and Australia. Metra said it wants to research whether the trainsets could work in the United States. In September 2022, it issued a Request for Proposals for battery-powered trainsets and is currently reviewing the ones it received.
The grant will fund up to 16 trainsets, adding a new type of propulsion to the agency’s fleet that could accelerate and brake faster than traditional trains, Metra said. The lower-capacity trainsets will be more economical and environmentally friendly, the agency said, while providing the same level of service, particularly during off-peak times.
Once purchased, the battery-operated trainsets would allow Metra to retire some of its oldest, diesel locomotives, allowing the agency to eliminate tons of carbon emissions. The trainsets will most likely be introduce on the Rock Island Line, which would directly benefit the air quality in several economically disadvantaged neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago and in southern suburbs.