As a result of advocacy by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and the political leadership of Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn and State Rep. Marlow Colvin, Metra commuter rail in 2005 begain allowing passengers with bicycles to board non-rush hour and weekend Metra trains (some blackout dates apply).

This service includes reverse commute trains. There is no extra charge to bring your bicycle with you on a Metra train. Visit the Metra website for details about the program including rules and regulations, blackout dates and information about which trains and how many bikes per train are included in the program.

Please carefully read all the rules and regulations regarding this program. We want to make sure that this program is successful so that we can continue to increase access to Metra trains by passengers with bikes. Each train schedule shows if bikes are allowed on that specific train and if so, how many bikes per train are allowed (the maximum number of bikes per car is always 2).

The offering of this service is a significant victory for cyclists’ rights in Northeastern Illinois. The political fight has most recently been led by Lt. Gov. Quinn and Rep. Colvin; but 113 state representatives also agreed with Rep. Colvin in the spring 2006 session of the General Assembly, voting unanimously for legislation that would have mandated a bikes on Metra program.

An agreement was made with Metra to initiate a significant program without the need for legislation and Chicagoland Bicycle Federation continues to work with Metra to develop and improve this program.

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation recognizes the efforts of State Sen. Carole Pankau, former State Rep. Judy Irwin, State Rep. Elaine Nekritz and all of HB 467's co-sponsors for their support.


For more information, please contact Randy Warren.