Metra Launches New Alert System Using Texts And Emails, Customers Must Sign Up

Metra riders will see a new and improved alert system, allowing them to receive alerts about their line and real-time arrival information at their station via email or texts, officials said Monday.

The new system launches Thursday, Nov. 5 and on the same day, Metra will shut down the current email-only alert system, which customers manage via “My Metra” accounts on the Metra website. For privacy reasons, the data from that system can’t be imported into the replacement, so all customers who want to continue to receive alerts must sign up for the enhanced new service starting Nov. 5.

The new alert system follows the upgrade of Metra’s GPS tracking and passenger announcement systems with a replacement that tracks train movement, reports a train’s adherence to the schedule, allows for onboard and platform announcements, and sends digital information to onboard and platform signs. It includes a website, metratracker.com, where riders can follow their train on a map and get schedule and real-time arrival information.

The new system’s final component is to communicate operational changes and alerts to customers via text and/or email.

“Communicating with our customers is a critical part of Metra’s mission, and this new system is a major enhancement, not only because it supplies the timeliest and most accurate data but because for the first time it gives us the ability to communicate via text messaging,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski.

To sign up, riders must go to metratracker.com starting Nov. 5 and create an account by clicking on the “Subscribe” button and then entering their email address, name, and, if they want to receive text alerts, their phone number. Once their account is created, the next step is to set up their desired alerts by clicking on “Alerts: Sign up for station information.”

On the next page, riders can sign up for Service Alerts, which notify riders about delays, disruptions, and changes in service on their line or lines, and/or Prediction Alerts, which notify riders about the predicted or scheduled arrival times of the next few trains at their station serving their destination.

Each alert type can be customized. For Service Alerts, after selecting their line, customers can select a time window during which they want to receive alerts, pick the days they want to receive them, and choose whether to receive them via text or email or both. If a customer wants to receive alerts for more than one trip a day—for instance, a trip downtown in the morning and a trip home in the evening—they must set up two separate alerts covering each trip by clicking on “Add Bulletin Alert”.

In addition, riders who want to receive service alerts relevant to accessibility issues can check a box that says “I would like to receive accessibility notifications” to have those alerts sent to them via email or text.

For Prediction Alerts, customers must first select their line, origin station, and destination station. They are then prompted to enter a time they want to receive a prediction, the days they want to receive it, and the method—text or email or both. If they want, they can check a “Repeat” box and then select how often the prediction should be repeated until a selected end time. If they want predictions for additional trips, they must select “Add Station” and enter the information for the additional trips.