STB grants Metra request for trackage rights on Union Pacific
The Surface Transportation Board has granted Metra’s request for terminal trackage rights on three Union Pacific lines in the Chicago area, addressing the commuter operator’s concerns that UP could otherwise choose to halt commuter service in the absence of an operating agreement.
The ruling today [Sept. 3, 2025] ensures Metra service will continue on the Union Pacific North, Northwest, and West lines while the two sides carry on with what has been a long and arduous negotiation process. Noting sharp differences between the two sides’ views on compensation, the board says it “expects and encourages Metra and UP to undertake a concerted, good-faith effort to reach agreement,” but says if they cannot do so, it will establish compensation and conditions for use “in accordance with the statute.”
The STB set no deadline for an agreement but directed the parties to provide a status report by Nov. 3, 2025, and if additional time is required, to continue providing updates every 60 days.
Metra requested that the board provide the trackage rights in a March filing, saying its service was “in jeopardy” because of its dispute with Union Pacific [see “Metra asks STB to require Union Pacific to continue …,” Trains.com, March 7, 2025]. In its ruling, the board largely accepts Metra’s arguments for granting the trackage rights and defining the terminal trackage rights area as covering its operating region, and agrees that Metra’s request meets the “public interest” standard required to grant the trackage rights.
“There is, no doubt, a compelling need to grant Metra trackage rights over the UP Lines to provide commuter rail service in the Chicago area,” the three STB board members wrote in a unanimous decision. “Metra provides a critically important public service. … And UP has made clear that it has no obligation to provide passenger rail service — it secured a declaration from a federal court confirming as much.”
Metra had objected to a number of contract terms that Union Pacific attempted to unilaterally impose in June, which led it to request an injunction earlier in the summer. The board turned down that request, noting that UP had said it would not halt service and that Metra had said it would continue operating without accepting those terms [see “STB turns down Metra request …,” Trains.com, July 2, 2025].
The commuter operator said in a statement that today’s decision will allow it “to continue operating on the three UP lines while negotiations continue with Union Pacific over the conditions and compensation regarding our use of its tracks. Our goal throughout this process has been to reach an agreement based on objective industry standards, good-faith negotiations, and the public interest.”
Union Pacific said in a statement that it “has always been committed to ensuring that the commuter service provided to millions of Chicago riders will continue. With today’s guidance from the Surface Transportation Board, Union Pacific looks forward to working with Metra on a fair and reasonable resolution to the matter.”
UP had argued that Metra had not established the trackage rights are in the public interest because it has not refused the commuter operator access, and is willing to provide that access under a private agreement. It had claimed that the issue was a financial dispute, and that Metra was attempting to use the regulatory process to circumvent bargaining [see “Union Pacific urges STB to turn down Metra bid …,” Trains.com, June 5, 2025].
But the board said UP’s stance was that the freight railroad should have sole discretion to decide whether Metra could operate on its lines, and on what terms. “Accordingly, this is not a dispute ‘about money’ — it is about access,” the decision says. “If UP’s position were adopted, the future of commuter rail service over the three UP lines would be dictated by UP without any access to Board intervention.”
In ruling, the STB first dismissed Union Pacific’s contention that the board did not have jurisdiction because Metra is primarily an intrastate operation [see “UP asks regulators to dismiss …,” Trains.com, May 23, 2025]. The board determined that it had jurisdiction on two grounds: That the one Metra station in Kenosha, Wis., is sufficient to qualify for interstate status, and that the predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission had previously established its jurisdiction with decisions addressing purely intrastate Metra operations.
The decision was attributed to Patrick Fuchs, Karen Hedlund, and Michelle Schultz, the three remaining board members following the Trump administration’s firing of Robert Primus [see “Trump fires …,” Trains.com, Aug. 28, 2025]. While Primus is contesting that firing, he was not included in the decision and his biography has been removed from the STB website.