advertisement

---

The Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp. (Metra) posted nearly 80 million passenger trips in 2006, a 5.2 percent increase compared with 2005 and a new record.

Metra officials attribute the ridership gain to expanded schedules, the addition of nine stations and high gasoline prices.

The agency recorded the highest gains on the recently expanded North Central Service and South West Service, which posted increases of 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively. However, the BNSF Railway service between Aurora and Union Station continued to be Metra’s busiest, posting 15.8 million trips, a 2.7 percent increase compared with 2005.