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View Poll Results: Which Chicagoland Train system is better ? Metra or CTA
Yes 22 88.00%
No 3 12.00%
Voters: 25. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-04-2008, 10:45 AM
 
Location: Chicago
4,688 posts, read 10,102,386 times
Reputation: 3207

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Quote:
Originally Posted by sukwoo View Post
Keep in mind that Metra gets a much higher amount of taxpayer subsidy per passenger than the CTA. No doubt there's cronyism and waste in the CTA, but having to run operations on a shoestring budget with deferral of capital upgrades is a big problem that can't be overcome without more income.
Although this had been happening at Metra the past few years as well, if I'm not mistaken. As we've all become painfully aware the past few years, you can only defer maintenance for so long. Those Metra trains might not be the way to really fly in a few more years, less our disfunctional government get its act together.
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Old 08-04-2008, 05:28 PM
 
Location: Evanston
725 posts, read 1,848,759 times
Reputation: 195
I love Metra. It took me almost an hour to get from Evanston downtown on CTA and it takes like 20 minutes on Metra. I have to walk farther, but I have been enjoying the exercise and the downtown sites. I have also never had to stand on Metra, and I know exactly when the trains will arrive. I wish it was less expensive, though.
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Old 08-04-2008, 07:43 PM
 
7,025 posts, read 11,404,509 times
Reputation: 1107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Costa Rica Chica View Post
I love Metra. It took me almost an hour to get from Evanston downtown on CTA and it takes like 20 minutes on Metra. I have to walk farther, but I have been enjoying the exercise and the downtown sites. I have also never had to stand on Metra, and I know exactly when the trains will arrive. I wish it was less expensive, though.
Cheaper (CTA)

Safe, comfortable, clean, reliable and convenient (METRA).

You get what you pay for.
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Old 08-04-2008, 10:50 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
2 posts, read 4,511 times
Reputation: 10
Both are allright, actually, though I like the CTA better because of the excitement accompanying it. And because it's in Chicago, not the crappy suburbs (:-)). Metra's not bad either, though recently there's been less space to sit because of gas prices. But it's faster, so it all balances out.
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Old 08-05-2008, 12:33 AM
 
7,330 posts, read 15,379,073 times
Reputation: 3800
Apples and oranges. The Metra is a commuter train designed to get masses of people in and out of the city center. The CTA is intra-city. It's designed to move people from place to place.

I am one of the lucky ones who live close to both a Metra and a CTA stop. If I'm going downtown, Metra all the way. It's only slightly more expensive from my zone, and gets me downtown in 12-15 minutes. Amazing.

However, if I don't want to go downtown or to a few other centralized spots, and I don't want to plan my trip around a train schedule, I can jump on the Brown Line and get where I need to go fairly painlessly.

The Metra is not a car replacement like the CTA can be.
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