VIDEO: Metra prepares for 2015's first deep freeze

CHICAGO -- Metra has taken lessons learned from last winter's deep freeze and applied them to proactive preparedness for this week's chill. Metra crews were out early Monday morning and fuel trucks are already in outlying Metra rail yards. Metra Deputy Executive Director Peter Zwolfer says locomotives will be running all night to help keep engines warm.

Metra is also using gas flames to keep switching point tracks warm, and crossovers will be manned 24-hours a day to keep switches operational. There are also new powerful snow blowers to keep critical rail yards working, and Metra is replacing old doors susceptible to sticking in the cold.

But temperatures around 0 degrees trigger a Metra slowdown for safety reasons, and more people tend to ride Metra when weather conditions deteriorate, all of which may cause Metra to operate slightly slower on Tuesday.