Metra Refurbished Passenger Car Spotted on UP-West Line

After reading about how the folks at Metra - in between all of their non-stop fare increases and delays - were refurbishing some of their cars with updates like new seats and cupholders back in January, I had been wondering when I'd come across one of them.

Welp, the wait is over.  Last week, on one of my morning commutes on the Union Pacific West line, I boarded and climbed upstairs like I always do.  Only to realize that I was in a refurbished car.

Preetay, preetay, preetay nice.  Or at least it is more like what you expect a train car in 2016 to actually look like.

Check out the sleek blue seats:

There's more, including cupholders!  But, in the seats I was sitting, there weren't any cupholders.  From ABC7's story in January:

Most of Metra's passenger cars are feeling the wear and tear of age. A select group of them are being refurbished with a new look and a most-definite new feel.

New seats are being installed on 30 Metra passenger cars, giving them something of an airline look. It's part of a pilot program to gauge rider reaction to something Metra says its passengers have asked for. 

"We went out to the industry and looked at it. A lot of railroads have gone to this - migrated to this, so I can't claim we're the pioneers, but we don't want to miss the boat on it either," said Don Orseno, Metra CEO. 

The new seats have a higher back and better lumbar support. They have moveable arm rests and coffee cup holders. What's not to like?