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Union Pacific West Line

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Union Pacific West Line
A Metra train at Geneva
Overview
OwnerUnion Pacific Railroad (Leased to Metra)
Termini
Stations19
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemMetra
Operator(s)Union Pacific Railroad
Metra
Daily ridership27,196 (avg. weekday 2014)[1]
Ridership3,285,005 (2023)
Technical
Line length43.8 miles[2]
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
Map Union Pacific West Line highlighted in pink
Legend
Union Pacific Railroad
43.6 mi
70.2 km
 Elburn
Elburn yard
40.9 mi
65.8 km
 La Fox
38.1 mi
61.3 km
St. Charles
35.3 mi
56.8 km
 Geneva
Fox River Trail
Fox River Line
Fox River
Freeport Branch
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Rwy
29.8 mi
48 km
 West Chicago
DuPage River (West Branch)
27.5 mi
44.3 km
 Winfield
Illinois Prairie Path/
Chicago Aurora and Elgin
25.0 mi
40.2 km
 Wheaton
23.8 mi
38.3 km
 College Avenue
22.4 mi
36 km
 Glen Ellyn
DuPage River (East Branch)
I-355.svg I-355
19.9 mi
32 km
 Lombard
Great Western Trail
17.8 mi
28.6 km
 Villa Park
Salt Creek Trail
IC West Line
Salt Creek
15.7 mi
25.3 km
 Elmhurst
Union Pacific Railroad
I-290.svg I-290
I-294.svg I-294
14.3 mi
23 km
 Berkeley
12.6 mi
20.3 km
 Bellwood
Addison Creek
to Proviso Yard
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
11.3 mi
18.2 km
 Melrose Park
10.5 mi
16.9 km
 Maywood
Des Plaines River
9.7 mi
15.6 km
 River Forest
Canadian National Railway
9.1 mi
14.6 km
Lathrop Avenue
Harlem/Lake
8.5 mi
13.7 km
 Oak Park
8.2 mi
13.2 km
Avenue
7.7 mi
12.4 km
Ridgeland
7.2 mi
11.6 km
Austin Boulevard
6.7 mi
10.8 km
Austin
Green
to Ashland/63rd
and Cottage Grove
Belt Railway of Chicago
4.8 mi
7.7 km
Keeler (employees only)
3.6 mi
5.8 km
 Kedzie
3.0 mi
4.8 km
California Ave. coach yard
Western Ave. Corridor
 enlarge…MD-N enlarge…MD-W enlarge…NCS Amtrak
Chicago "L"
Logan Square branch
I-90.svgI-94.svg I-90 / I-94
Blue to O'Hare
enlarge… UP-NW
to Harvard
or McHenry
 enlarge… UP-N to Kenosha
Chicago River (north branch)
Wells Street Station
Green Pink
0
Ogilvie
Blue to Forest Park
MD-N MD-W NCS/Amtrak
to Union Station
Key
 Union Pacific West Line
Former route alignment
 Other Metra lines
Metra Milwaukee District lines
Other freight lines
CTA lines
Mileage source[3]
Handicapped/disabled access All stations are accessible except
Kedzie and River Forest.
This diagram:

The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) is a Metra commuter rail line operated by Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific West line are "Kate Shelley Rose" pink, honoring an Iowa woman who saved a Chicago & North Western Railway train from disaster in 1881. Green and yellow were already selected for the Union Pacific North Line and Union Pacific Northwest Line, respectively, so pink was chosen for this line. Therefore, the UP-W is the only Metra line that uses a color to honor a person instead of a fallen flag railroad.[4] Until the late 1940s the line had a branch to Freeport, Illinois. It diverged from the main line at West Chicago and had stations at Elgin, Marengo, Belvidere, Rockford, Freeport, and other communities. The line was once known as the Chicago & Northwestern/West Line until UP took over the C&NW in 1995. All Metra trains on this line terminated at Geneva until 2006, when the line was extended to its present terminus in Elburn. The line runs as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's Geneva Subdivision (ex-C&NW line to Clinton, Iowa).

The line runs from the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago through the western suburbs to Elburn. This is the oldest railway route built from Chicago, the route of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad along Kinzie Street.

As of February 16, 2024, Metra operates 58 trains (29 in each direction) on the Union Pacific West Line on weekdays. Of these, 23 inbound trains originate from Elburn, two from La Fox, three from Geneva, and one from West Chicago. Two outbound trains terminate at Geneva, three at La Fox, and the remaining 24 terminate at Elburn.

On weekends, all trains run the full route to Elburn, with Metra operating 10 roundtrip trains on Saturday and nine on Sundays and holidays.

Union Pacific is building a third track from West Chicago through all of Geneva. The project started in September 2022 and is expected to be finished in July 2024. The improvements are designed to ensure smoother traffic flow and reduce conflicts between commuter and freight trains.[5]

By the first quarter of 2024, the Union Pacific Railroad is expected to transfer operations of the three Union Pacific lines to Metra. The Union Pacific will continue to own and maintain the right-of-way.[6]

Ridership

[edit]

Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 8,423,188 to 7,883,185, an overall decline of 6.4%.[7][8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,945,886 passengers in 2020 and to 1,486,536 passengers in 2021.[9][10][11]

1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
9,000,000
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Station stops

[edit]
County Zone Location Station Connections and notes
Kane 4 Elburn Elburn Bus interchange Huskie Line: 12
La Fox La Fox
St. Charles St. Charles St. Charles branch
4 Geneva Geneva Bus interchange Pace: 801, 802
DuPage West Chicago West Chicago
Winfield Winfield
Wheaton Wheaton Bus interchange Pace: 301, 711, 714
College Avenue Bus interchange Pace: 714
Glen Ellyn Glen Ellyn Bus interchange Pace: 715
3 Lombard Lombard
Villa Park Villa Park
Elmhurst Elmhurst Bus interchange Pace: 309, 332
Cook 2 Berkeley Berkeley Formerly named Proviso
Bellwood Bellwood Bus interchange Pace: 313, 330
Melrose Park Melrose Park Bus interchange Pace: 303, 309, 313
Maywood Maywood Bus interchange Pace: 309, 313, 331
River Forest River Forest Bus interchange Pace: 309, 313
Lathrop Closed December 1, 1958
Oak Park Oak Park Chicago "L": Green (at Harlem/Lake)
Bus interchange CTA Bus: 90
Bus interchange Pace: 307, 309, 313, 318, 770
  Avenue Closed December 1, 1958
Ridgeland Closed December 1, 1958
Austin Boulevard Closed December 1, 1958
Chicago Austin Closed December 1, 1958
Keeler Employee only stop, serves adjacent maintenance facility
2 Kedzie Chicago "L": Green (at Kedzie)
Bus interchange CTA Bus: 52
1 Ogilvie
Transportation
Center 		Metra Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest, ■ Union Pacific North
Chicago "L": Green Pink (at Clinton)
Bus interchange CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192

Freeport Branch

[edit]

This branch line ran from West Chicago to Freeport, Illinois. Service was discontinued in the late 1940s. Metra is planning to revive service from Big Timber Road to Rockford on this line, stopping in Huntley and Belvidere, but there are no plans to restore passenger service south of Elgin.

County Location Station Connections
Stephenson Freeport Freeport Illinois Central trains
Ridott Ridott
Winnebago Pecatonica Pecatonica
Winnebago Winnebago
Rockford Rockford KD Line
East Rockford
Cherry Valley Cherry Valley
Boone Belvidere Belvidere Trains to Spring Valley and Janesville
Garden Prairie Garden Prairie
McHenry Marengo Marengo
Union Union Illinois Railway Museum
Huntley Huntley
Kane Gilberts Gilberts
Elgin Elgin (West Side) Trains to Crystal Lake, Milwaukee Road trains
South Elgin South Elgin
DuPage Wayne Wayne

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Metra Railfan Tips - Union Pacific/West
  3. ^ State of the System - Union Pacific West
  4. ^ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.
  5. ^ "Union Pacific Third Main Line Project | Geneva, IL - Official Website".
  6. ^ "Union Pacific Transferring Commuter Rail Services to Metra". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  8. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  9. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  10. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2021" (PDF).
  11. ^ RTAMS. "Metra Ridership by Line".
[edit]
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