On another note, Metra recently ordered 160 more of these cars.. which will replace all old equipment. First of the order will arrive in about two years.
i love the new highliners, but they could of did a better job with the design. I also feel that metra deserves to have an electric locomotive too because they sound better than EMU's in my opinion.
I see the problem with the doors (or lack thereof). The Highliners had the center doors as well as end doors while these cars only have center doors, making passenger ingress and egress only half as efficient as the older Highliners. I'm from Philadelphia originally and none SEPTA's MU's have bells on them; just locomotives and cab cars.
That is correct. The parking lot at Olympia Fields has only been in place for about a year. At the time of the video, there was no parking lot... as mentioned, only the Post Office.
These cars are terrible compared to the Highliners (and no I won't call them that. Maybe Suckliners.) Yes, I know they are the same as the other lines get with electric stuff grafted on but for our line they are a huge step down in comfort and space. Bathrooms, stainless steel, and AC drive is nice but they are significantly narrower, lack end vestibules and center vestibules that only allow for two abreast boarding and exiting. It wastes the advantages of high level platforms. Could go on.
Only twenty-seven of these were built in 2004. There were supposed to be more built to replace the aging 37 year old IC Highliners, but funding proved to be an issue.
The order for the new railcars was necessary as the old Highliners inherited from Illinois Central were 30+ years old and they weren't equipped with restrooms unlike the rest of Metra's diesel service.Even the South Shore Line M.U.s are equipped with restrooms and most of those cars are getting near retirement age!
wow, what memories... was a caddy at Olympia Fields in late 60's. Used to ride Illinois Central single level Pullmans from Roseland to OFCC. No air conditioning, basket weave seats. Wonder if the tunnel to the station is the same one I remember. Station certainly is not the same; all we had was a wooden platform and warming house.
YUKK! These look like the boxy Budd & Pullman cars on the MERTA Diesel lines! Would have been nice to see cars like on GO (Toronto, ON) or CalTrans lines!
I miss the real bells - a electronically generated bell sound just isn't the same, especially in comparison to the 1500-series MU's with their mal-functioning relays, meaning an erratic beat to the bell ring frequency.
The overall design is based from Metra's bilevel cars, however some modifications were made to fit Metra Electric... like the stairs under the doors for crews to get off in the yard.
The manufacturer is the same company that produced Metra's last order of 300 diesel pulled cars, Sumitomo Corp. They are also producing VRE's latest bilevels.
I absolutely love the sound of the Toshiba propulsion used on the train.
alchemistmuffin 1 year ago
On another note, Metra recently ordered 160 more of these cars.. which will replace all old equipment. First of the order will arrive in about two years.
metraRI 1 year ago 3
they look sweet but the e-bell sucks! nice video
metraF40PH163 1 year ago
They look like the locomotive-hauled gallery cars used elsewhere in the Metra system, but WOW what acceleration! Much faster than the diesels!
rwsandman 2 years ago 4
The sound gives the sense of Japanese Toshiba motors.
bearchoirfan 2 years ago 2
i love the new highliners, but they could of did a better job with the design. I also feel that metra deserves to have an electric locomotive too because they sound better than EMU's in my opinion.
Drewvinci 2 years ago
I see the problem with the doors (or lack thereof). The Highliners had the center doors as well as end doors while these cars only have center doors, making passenger ingress and egress only half as efficient as the older Highliners. I'm from Philadelphia originally and none SEPTA's MU's have bells on them; just locomotives and cab cars.
RDG484 3 years ago
The way I remember this Metra Electric train station was, long time ago there was only a Post Office.
There was no parking lot at the time too.
It was the only train station on the Metra Electric mainline without a parking lot.
The Parking lot came later as time went on.
meerkatmandude 3 years ago 2
That is correct. The parking lot at Olympia Fields has only been in place for about a year. At the time of the video, there was no parking lot... as mentioned, only the Post Office.
metraRI 3 years ago 2
These cars are terrible compared to the Highliners (and no I won't call them that. Maybe Suckliners.) Yes, I know they are the same as the other lines get with electric stuff grafted on but for our line they are a huge step down in comfort and space. Bathrooms, stainless steel, and AC drive is nice but they are significantly narrower, lack end vestibules and center vestibules that only allow for two abreast boarding and exiting. It wastes the advantages of high level platforms. Could go on.
filmteknik 3 years ago
What Is That Bell?
cc10266 3 years ago
It's an electronic bell, similar to the one's used on Gevos, the SD70 series, and among others that I've heard them used on.
larry84988 3 years ago
@cc10266 That is an actual bell under the frame with a clapper.
A6661 1 year ago
Kinda gives you a subway kind of subway feeling.
tacosandtrains 3 years ago
I like the sound it makes when its about to take off.
xDshiv58 4 years ago
i like how they look like regular metra coaches.
bonnevillessei 4 years ago
Yeah it takes off pretty fast. I havnt seen those cars much in Chicago though
DarkAltiar 4 years ago
Only twenty-seven of these were built in 2004. There were supposed to be more built to replace the aging 37 year old IC Highliners, but funding proved to be an issue.
BishopTJH 4 years ago
What quick acceleration for such a heavy train set.
Eliyah78 4 years ago
The order for the new railcars was necessary as the old Highliners inherited from Illinois Central were 30+ years old and they weren't equipped with restrooms unlike the rest of Metra's diesel service.Even the South Shore Line M.U.s are equipped with restrooms and most of those cars are getting near retirement age!
mjd4277 4 years ago
the bell sounds like the kind used by go transit trains in canada
lexmarks567 4 years ago
electronic bell
mallmaven 4 years ago
wow, what memories... was a caddy at Olympia Fields in late 60's. Used to ride Illinois Central single level Pullmans from Roseland to OFCC. No air conditioning, basket weave seats. Wonder if the tunnel to the station is the same one I remember. Station certainly is not the same; all we had was a wooden platform and warming house.
bigbaby1617 4 years ago
these bells sound like the AEM7 bells!
alx2925 4 years ago
NICTD also just placed an order for 14 similar cars to run on the South Shore Line.
metraRI 4 years ago 2
YUKK! These look like the boxy Budd & Pullman cars on the MERTA Diesel lines! Would have been nice to see cars like on GO (Toronto, ON) or CalTrans lines!
pm0501 4 years ago
I hate to tell you, but Budd & Pullman cars haven't run on Metra for like 5 years.
bLuToRsE 4 years ago
There are still Budd cars on the Rock Island, SouthWest Service, and Milwaukee District lines.
BishopTJH 4 years ago
I miss the real bells - a electronically generated bell sound just isn't the same, especially in comparison to the 1500-series MU's with their mal-functioning relays, meaning an erratic beat to the bell ring frequency.
tdunville 5 years ago 2
The overall design is based from Metra's bilevel cars, however some modifications were made to fit Metra Electric... like the stairs under the doors for crews to get off in the yard.
metraRI 5 years ago
Another thing, in the manufacturing of these cars, did they use the bodies of Metra's stainless steel
bi-level cab cars?
2GUNBOY 5 years ago
The manufacturer is the same company that produced Metra's last order of 300 diesel pulled cars, Sumitomo Corp. They are also producing VRE's latest bilevels.
metraRI 5 years ago
Who's the manufacturer of those new Metra Highliners?
2GUNBOY 5 years ago
nippon sharyo
kj762aa 4 years ago