The proposal, unveiled Wednesday, also envisions direct rail connections between the south and west suburbs and O’Hare International Airport. Its estimated $9 billion cost, however, is far beyond the $500 million Metra budgeted this year for trains and infrastructure.

The plan is laid out in two phases. The first would increase service on existing lines, potentially bringing trains every 30 to 60 minutes in some areas with relatively few track or fleet changes. Metra would divide routes into inner and outer zones: inner-zone trains would turn back before the end of a line, while some outer-zone trains would run express toward downtown. The approach is intended to add service where demand is greatest while speeding trips from farther-out communities.

That phase also proposes trains from downtown to O’Hare every 30 minutes. The route would share tracks with a freight railroad, a complication Metra has previously identified. A separate, privately funded proposal called the O’Hare Flyer is pursuing an airport connection on different freight tracks.

The second phase would require major construction and new equipment to support trains every 15 to 30 minutes and create crosstown service. Metra proposes connecting tracks through Union Station, where the tracks on the north and south sides do not currently link. The draft estimates that improving the station for through-running would cost $610 million.

With such a connection, the plan says, a passenger could travel from Aurora on the BNSF line through downtown and onward to O’Hare. It also considers rerouting the Rock Island Line, which currently ends at LaSalle Street Station, through Union Station to provide a direct south-suburban route to the airport.

The full proposal would require expanded rail yards and a larger fleet of smaller, faster battery-powered trains, as well as extensive track upgrades. Metra would also need agreements with freight railroads, which own many of the tracks used by its trains. Most of the agency’s rail yards are already near capacity, and Union Station is owned by Amtrak, which shares tracks with Metra.

Funding is a major uncertainty. Much of the additional $1.5 billion expected from the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act is slated for day-to-day operations rather than new infrastructure, according to the draft report. Federal transit funding has also slowed, leaving the full plan without an identified funding path.

Metra began examining a shift toward regional rail in 2023 as travel patterns changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Agency spokesperson Michael Gillis said the plan focuses on improvements that can be made within Metra’s existing footprint and largely avoids costly investments.

Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, said the draft identifies specific routes that could support crosstown service, giving the idea more definition than earlier planning efforts. He described the Union Station concept as a gradual move away from a system in which every line terminates just outside the Loop.

Metra has already added weekend trains on its BNSF and Union Pacific North lines. The agency saw ridership rise 30% to 40% during those service periods, according to the report—an early indication of how riders may respond to more frequent trains.