Formation Married-pair | ||
 | ||
In service Original: 1971-2016
Stainless: 2005-present Manufacturer St. Louis Car Company, Bombardier, Nippon Sharyo Family name Original: Highliner
Stainless: Budd Gallery car Constructed Original: 1971, 1978-1979
Stainless: 2005, 2012-2016 Number built St Louis: 130
Bombardier: 36
Nippon: 201+ | ||
The Highliner is a bilevel Electric Multiple Unit railcar. The original series of railcars were built in 1971 by the St. Louis Car Company for commuter service on the Illinois Central Railroad, in south Chicago, Illinois.
History
In 1926, the Illinois Central's commuter rail lines were electrified, and began operating as the "IC Electric". For almost 40 years, the IC Electric continued to operate the original fleet of heavyweight cars, until the railroad decided that a more modern railcar was needed to resume commuter operations. The Chicago South Suburban Mass Transit District formed in 1967 in order to qualify for federal funding to purchase new equipment for the route. The original Highliner fleet had a cost of approximately $40 million; $26.6 million was funded by a federal grant, with remainder coming from the Illinois Central. The railcars operated on electric catenary, and were more efficient than their heavyweight predecessors. A typical Highliner was able to seat 156 passengers, and run faster than the heavyweight fleet.
In 1976, the newly formed Regional Transportation Authority began to fund the IC Electric commuter service. In 1983, the RTA created Metra, Chicago's commuter rail service, and in 1987, Metra purchased the IC Electric line, forming the Metra Electric Line.
The original Highliners were rebuilt from 1978 to 1979 by the Bombardier company. Starting in 2005, the original fleet began to be phased out. They were replaced by new Highliners built by Nippon Sharyo of Japan, the same company that is currently in charge of production of Metra's fleet of gallery cars. The Nippon Sharyo Highliners are similar in appearance to the passenger cars used on Metra's diesel lines. The last revenue run of the original Highliner cars was on February 12, 2016.
Currently, the South Shore Line electric railroad of Illinois and Indiana is purchasing new Highliners to supplement its fleet of EMUs.