Metra rolls out real-time train tracking website

Chicago commuter railroad Metra yesterday began rolling out metratracker.com, a new tool for riders to track Metra trains in real time using GPS technology.

Riders can see precisely where their trains are and when they’re expected to reach their station, Metra officials said in a press release. The new system, which cost $26.7 million, is a wholesale replacement of Metra’s previous tracking system.

The website’s features include:

• an option to allow riders to check train departure times from their selected station;
• an interactive real-time map that enables riders to see the location of each train; and
• a trip planner tool that combines Metra and other modes of travel to plan routes from address to address.

The system will also improve communications through a new feature that allows workers in the Train Reporting and Customer Communications Center to send texts to trains and platforms that instantly will be turned into audio announcements and displayed on signage.

Clever Devices Ltd. of Woodbury, New York, developed the new train-tracking system, which required the installation of new GPS tracking devices and other network equipment on more than 1,000 rail cars and in 238 stations, Metra officials said. Equipment is currently being installed on trains on the Union Pacific, Southwest Service and BNSF lines.