Union Pacific / North Line

Union Pacific / North Line
A southbound train departs Highland Park station
Overview
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Metra
Status	Operational
Locale	Chicago metropolitan area
Termini	Ogilvie Transportation Center Kenosha
Stations	27
Daily ridership	41,000 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Operation
Owner	Union Pacific Railroad
Operator(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Technical
Line length	51.9 miles (83.5 km)[2]
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Milwaukee 78.2 Cudahy 74.7 South Milwaukee 61.8 Racine 51.6 Kenosha KD Line to Rockford Wisconsin Illinois 44.5 Winthrop Harbor Camp Logan 42.1 Zion Dunes Park Asbestos 35.9 Waukegan 33.7 North Chicago Canadian National Railway 32.2 Great Lakes (Lake Bluff) 30.2 Lake Bluff 28.3 Lake Forest 25.7 Fort Sheridan (Highwood) 24.5 Highwood 23.0 Highland Park 21.5 Ravinia (Highland Park) 20.9 Ravinia Park (Highland Park) 20.5 Braeside (Highland Park) 19.2 Glencoe 17.7 Hubbard Woods (Winnetka) 16.6 Winnetka 15.8 Indian Hill (Winnetka) 15.2 Kenilworth 14.4 Wilmette 13.3 Central Street (Evanston) North Shore channel Mayfair division Purple Line to Linden 12.0 Davis Street (Evanston) 11.5 Dempster (Evanston) 11.0 Main Street (Evanston) 10.3 Calvary (Evanston) Purple Line to Howard or Loop Yellow Line 9.4 Rogers Park (Chicago) 8.4 Kenmore (Chicago) 7.8 Rose Hill (Chicago) 7.1 Summerdale (Chicago) 6.5 Ravenswood (Chicago) Brown Line to Kimball 6.2 Ravenswood-Wilson (Chicago) 5.5 Northcenter (Chicago) Brown Line to Loop 4.6 Belmont Avenue (Chicago) 3.5 Deering (Chicago) Chicago River (north branch) UP-NW to Harvard or McHenry 2.8 Clybourn (Chicago) UP-W to Elburn MD-N NCS MD-W Green and Pink lines 0.0 Ogilvie Transportation Center (Chicago)

The Union Pacific / North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Waukegan, Illinois, with rush-hour trains continuing to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Although Metra owns the rolling stock, the trains are operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. (Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific/North line are dark "Flambeau Green". The colors came from the company colors of the Chicago & North Western Railway, while "Flambeau" refers to the C&NW's Flambeau 400 passenger train.^[3]) This line was known as the Chicago & Northwestern/North Line until C&NW was absorbed by Union Pacific circa 1995.

The current timetable has 35 weekday trains leaving Chicago, 17 of which terminate at Waukegan, 9 at Kenosha, 3 at Highland Park, 5 at Winnetka, 1 at North Chicago.

History

The route followed by the UP/North Line was constructed in 1854 by the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad.^[4] Passenger service between Chicago and Waukegan commenced on January 4, 1855. Initially, a single train operated each day, departing from a terminal in Chicago at Water & Kinzie Streets at 8:30 am and returning from Waukegan at 3:30 pm.^[5][6] The president of the railroad, former Chicago mayor Walter S. Gurnee, speculated on land in Lake County spurring the development of railway suburbs along the line.^[7] The railroad merged with the Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Railroad in 1863, and was acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1866.^[6][8] Commuter rail services along the line started operating into the new Chicago and North Western Terminal (now Ogilvie Transportation Center) in 1911, and became part of Metra when it was formed in 1984. The trains—though owned by Metra—continued to be operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway until that railroad was bought by UP in 1995. UP now operates passenger services along the line for Metra.

All stations on the line except for Ravinia Park are open daily.

Current and future

In 2010, Metra began a project to replace 22 bridges between Clybourn and Rogers Park, which are at the end of their design lives and in need of replacement. Metra's initial plan called for significantly reduced service for the duration of the project.^[9] Widespread frustration with this service pattern led to the project being delayed to investigate potential ways to keep existing service. Many people were angry that the original plan for the project would have centered the tracks in the existing right-of-way, preventing any possibility of rebuilding a third track without rebuilding the entire right-of-way or purchasing additional land.^[10] Metra claimed that in order to maintain existing service levels during construction, $100 million in additional funding would be needed. This funding was eventually procured and in 2011, Metra began work on a modified plan that will allow pre-existing service levels to be maintained as the bridges are replaced.

There have been ongoing plans to extend the line, possibly as far as Milwaukee for many years. Wisconsin's now defunct Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SERTA) had completed several studies of the project, but was disbanded in 2011.^[11] An Application for funding under the FTA's New Starts program was submitted in 2010, and the agency received federal money for preliminary engineering and construction. In 2011, however, a new Wisconsin budget passed which disbanded SERTA. $15 million in federal funding was returned.^[12] The project has since received little attention and is generally considered "Dead."

In late 2015, the Racine City Council unanimously approved a study to extend the line from its current terminus at Kenosha to Racine.^[13]

Car 553

Car 553 is a club car operating exclusively on the UP/North Line. It is not actually owned by the railroad, but by a private club of commuters. UP allows the operation at no charge, apart from collecting ticket fares from the club members, who are in charge of maintaining the railcar. Club membership was once limited to wealthy male commuters from affluent North Shore towns such as Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and Highland Park, but is now open to any commuter on the line for a $900 annual membership fee.^[14] It is the last privately owned railcar in American commuter service.

Route

The southern terminus of the UP/North Line is at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago. The route traverses Chicago's northern neighborhoods and its northern and far northern suburbs to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Green Bay Trail parallel the Union Pacific / North Line, using the former right of way of the North Shore Line for over 51.9 miles (83.5 km) from Chicago Loop to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Stations

References

External links

Route map: Google

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metra Union Pacific/North Line.

• Metra Union Pacific/North service schedule