NextStop Blog

MetroLink will continue to operate modified service until at least next Wednesday, February 5.

MetroLink began operating modified service in mid-January due to potential ground instability near a section of the tracks in Illinois. Unfortunately, the warm temperatures and ongoing melting of accumulated snow and ice can still cause some shifting of the ground, which impacts operations.

As a safety precaution, through Wednesday, February 5:

Blue Line MetroLink trains are only operating between the Shrewsbury-Lansdowne I-44 and Forest Park-DeBaliviere Stations. You will need to transfer between Blue Line and Red Line trains at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere Station to continue your trip. Please allow an extra ten minutes to your trips if you need to transfer trains, and you may need to adjust your commute if the added time impacts their bus connections.

Minor delays possible on Red Line MetroLink trains. Red Line MetroLink trains are operating on a single track between the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center and Fairview Heights Stations to travel around the area with potential ground instability. This may cause five- to ten-minute delays for Red Line customers.

While we work to minimize the negative impact of this change, we know it is very disruptive and can cause unintentional hardship for you and other riders. Metro Engineering teams continue to use on-site electronic monitors and conduct regular inspections to evaluate conditions and determine when it is appropriate for MetroLink trains to return to normal operation.

Why is There Limited Service for Blue Line trains?

MetroLink normally operates on two tracks (one eastbound, one westbound). However, when there is an issue affecting one of the tracks – construction work, car on the rail, unstable ground, etc. – we move all trains to the other track, or what we call single-track operations. This is when all trains, eastbound and westbound, must share a single track.

MetroLink trains can only change tracks where there is a crossover, and the locations of these crossovers determine how long a distance trains must share on a single track.

In our current situation, the potential ground instability is located in a small area of the tracks in Illinois. However, in order for trains to safely travel around that area, they have to share a single track for more than five miles due to where the crossovers are located.

Five miles is a long distance for a single-track operation, because only one train can be in that long section of track at a time. Other trains, both eastbound and westbound, need to wait for that one train to clear the shared track before they can continue. This restricts the number of trains that can pass through the area.

If we were to run normal Red Line and Blue Line service during this single-track operation, there would not be enough time for a train to clear the shared track before another train needed to go. Trains would start to pile up in lines, waiting for the shared track to be cleared. This would create significant delays, completely inaccurate schedules, and unsafe operations.

Instead, by limiting Blue Line service to only operate between Shrewsbury and Forest Park Stations, we can prevent disastrous bottlenecks on the tracks, maintain schedules, and minimize delays.