Not a CTA Post

By Alicia Dorr in News on Mar 6, 2007 7:26PM

After months upon months of nothing but terrible to mediocre information, there's good news for public transportation users!

Well, kind of. It's good news for those Chicagoans who leave the city for work each day, dubbed "reverse commuters." Metra will be adding service as of April 2, with a new, expanded schedule to help riders who are trying to get the hell out of the city.

Metra is adding an early-morning line, affectionately called "The Sunshine Express," so commuters can pretend they are riding the trolley to the Land of Make Believe. It will transport commuters to Waukegan and "other Lake County communities" so they can be to work at 7 a.m., before their boss and colleagues. On the flip side, the new train, which will have stops at Evanston, Highland Park and Lake Forest, will give commuters coming into the city an earlier option, too.

But that is just the flashiest of the new service; the Sunshine Express is one of six new trains on the Union Pacific North line that will give commuters a chance to get back and forth, to and fro, etc. and et al. While we can't help but feel like some brainiac in marketing saw getting people to leave the city as a viable solution to the city's transit woes, these new additions could help ease congestion and help Metra riders out.

Image via Chicago Transit and Railfan's site.