| Western Avenue | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Station statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Address | 420 North Artesian Avenue, near Grand Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60612 |
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| Lines | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Chicago Transit Authority | |||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform, 1 island platform | |||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1900 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | A | |||||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Western Avenue is the name of a railroad station owned by Metra, located in East Garfield Park community area of Chicago, Illinois near Western Avenue. The station is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) away from Union Station, the inbound terminus of the line.[1] Western Avenue station serves the Milwaukee District/West, North Central Service and Milwaukee District/North lines, and is the last inbound stop for these three lines before the terminus at Union Station. Although it is not a station stop, Amtrak trains make frequent use of the tracks. These Amtrak routes are the Hiawatha Service to Milwaukee and the Empire Builder service to Seattle/Portland. The station was previously used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Located near the station are the California Coach Yard, and the Western Avenue Rail Yard. The two nearby rail yards are host to Metra's final EMD F40Cs. Just east of the station there is a large junction. This is where the Union Pacific West Line Metra tracks to Ogilvie Transportation Center join. The Western Avenue tracks cross over the West Line tracks and run parallel to them. About a mile later, the lines split again as the West Line tracks continue to Ogilvie. The junction is controlled by the nearby A-2 tower.