Metra is set to receive a $169.3 million federal grant to buy self-propelled rail cars that could help the commuter railroad reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.

“We think zero-emission trainsets could be an exciting and positive addition to Metra’s fleet for a variety of reasons,” Metra CEO Jim Derwinski said in a news release. “Beyond the environmental and noise reduction benefits, they also offer savings in energy consumption as well as better efficiency, flexibility and reliability.”

Metra said it is the largest competitive federal grant ever won by the agency.

Metra said it wants to explore whether these self-propelled rail cars could work in Chicago, and it would be among the first agencies in the country to operate this type of green technology.

The rail cars are coupled into trainsets and have operators at each end to change directions. Battery-powered trainsets are in use in Germany, France and Australia.

The grant supports the purchase of up to 16 trainsets, with a new type of propulsion that could accelerate and brake faster than traditional trains.

Buying the trainsets would allow Metra to retire some of its oldest, most polluting diesel locomotives, according to the agency. If Metra could take 16 locomotives out of service six years earlier than planned, it would reduce Metra’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 567,000 tons over that period. 

The trainsets will likely be introduced on Metra’s Rock Island Line, which runs between Chicago’s LaSalle Street station and Joliet.

Metra approved a plan in 2022 to convert up to six locomotives to zero-emission battery power. The total cost for the conversions is $34.6 million with an expected timeline of three and a half years.

Charging stations will be designed after the locomotives are designed. The duration of a full and partial recharge of the trains won’t be known until then.

Though there isn’t a timeline for when the zero-emission trainsets will be on the rails, Gillis said they can be expected within the next few years.