Alternative plan being looked at to extend commuter rail service into Oswego, neighboring communities

Area officials for the past several years have been studying the possibility of extending the Metra commuter rail service on the BNSF line from the Aurora Transportation Center into Kendall County.

Extending Metra commuter rail service into Kendall County would require construction of a third, new main track west of ATC. There currently are only two main tracks on the BNSF system line in Kendall County.

The project is estimated to cost between about $400 million to $700 million. An additional $6 million to $14 million annually would be needed for operations and maintenance of the extension.

Now, officials are studying another option that could be considerably less costly. The option would use the Illinois Railway, which runs through downtown Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery.

“There is a possibility that we can get train service to Oswego outside of Metra,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in addressing state legislators at the recent legislative breakfast at Oswego Village Hall. “And that is what this study is going to look at.”

As Di Santo noted, the Illinois Railway starts in Ottawa, goes through downtown Yorkville and Oswego and meets up with BNSF in downtown Montgomery. The proposed commuter service would go through the downtowns of the three communities and then head into Union Station in Chicago.

Di Santo said the project could cost considerably less than extending the Metra commuter rail service.

“This may actually become much more of a possibility,” Di Santo said. “It’s kind of an interesting twist on this longtime project.”

The total proposed Metra extension is 20 miles, with stations proposed in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano and Sandwich.

The Kendall Rail Extension study has been looking at the environmental impacts of the project along with ridership, station and yard designs, costs and funding options.