Winnetka (Metra)

Winnetka is a station on Metra's Union Pacific/North Line located in Winnetka, Illinois. Winnetka is located at 754 Elm St. Winnetka is 16.6 miles (26.7 km) away from Ogilvie Transportation Center, the inbound terminus of the Union Pacific/North Line.^[1] In Metra's zone-based fare structure, Winnetka is located within zone D.

Winnetka station is located in a below-grade trench. The platforms are accessible via stairs from Elm and Oak Streets and a passenger bridge. An elevator for handicapped access is also located on the passenger bridge. The station consists of two side platforms which serve two tracks. A station house is located at street level; the station house is open from 5:15 A.M. to 1:15 P.M., and tickets are sold on weekdays. Parking is available in a lot adjacent to the station house. The Green Bay Trail, a hiking and bicycle trail, runs east of and parallel to the railroad tracks at Winnetka and can be accessed from the inbound platform.

Winnetka was originally built at grade level when it served the Chicago and North Western Railway. As an increasing amount of railroad traffic came through Winnetka, the railroad crossings became unsafe, and 29 people had been killed at railroad crossings by 1937 despite safety efforts by the city and the railroad. After the deaths of two women at the Pine Street crossing on October 20, 1937, Winnetka demanded that the grade crossings be removed. The city elected to put the tracks in a below-grade trench to avoid dividing the city with an elevated railroad. With the help of funding from the Public Works Administration, the tracks were brought into a trench by 1943. Winnetka and Hubbard Woods stations were located within the trench, and Indian Hill became an elevated station.^[2]

Bus connections

Pace

• Pace 213 – Green Bay Road
• Pace 423 – Linden CTA-The Glen-Harlem CTA

References

External links

• Metra - Winnetka
• Oak Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Elm Street entrance from Google Maps Street View