Freeport Subdivision

Freeport Subdivision
Freeport Subdivision
	The Freeport Subdivision as seen from Berwyn, IL
Overview
Owner	Canadian National Railway
Locale	Illinois
Termini	Chicago; Freeport
Service
Type	Freight rail
History
Opened	1891
Technical
Line length	113.5 mi (182.7 km)
Number of tracks	1-2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
show Route map
	Legend
	Orange Line
	to the Chicago Loop
	Orange Line
	to Midway
	Joliet Subdivision
	to Joliet
	Union Pacific / West Line
	to Chicago
	Union Pacific / West Line
	to Elburn
	to West Chicago
	to Rockford
	Canadian Pacific Railway
	to Chicago
	Canadian Pacific Railway
	to Savanna
	to South Elgin
	Illinois Railway
	Rockford Branch
	Canadian Pacific Railway
	to Janesville
	to Dubuque
	This diagram: view; talk; ;

The Freeport Subdivision is a railroad line in Illinois which runs from 16th Street in downtown Chicago to Freeport, Illinois. It is owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway (CN). As of 2016 the line is almost exclusively freight-only, with only a small segment within Chicago, between 21st Street in Chinatown and Ashland Avenue in Bridgeport, hosting Amtrak and Metra passenger trains.

The line is 113.5 miles (182.7 km) long. At its east end it joins with the St. Charles Air Line and the in Chicago's South Loop. From there to the interchange with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in Broadview, Illinois, it is double-tracked and CTC-controlled. From Broadview to Freeport, Illinois, it is single-tracked and track warrants are used. The maximum speed over the line is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).^[1] The section between 16th Street and 21st Street mostly handles traffic between CN's Chicago yards; Amtrak trains such as the City of New Orleans also use it when the St. Charles Air Line is out of service.^[2]

The Illinois Central Railroad opened its line between Chicago and Freeport in 1891, giving it a direct route between Chicago and Iowa. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, successor to the Illinois Central, sold the line between Hawthorne Yard in Cicero, Illinois, and Freeport (and on to Iowa) in 1985 to the Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad. The Illinois Central, after dropping the "Gulf" portion of its name in the late 1980s, reacquired the route in 1996.^[3] The IC operated the Illinois Central West Line on this subdivision in 1892 before discontinuing it in 1931. It also operated passenger trains on the subdivision until the startup of Amtrak on May 1, 1971; Amtrak did not retain the Chicago–Sioux City, Iowa, .^[4] Passenger service returned on February 14, 1974, with the introduction of the Black Hawk between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa.^[5] This service ended on September 30, 1981.^[6]

Notes[]

^ "Illinois State Rail Plan 2012" (PDF). Illinois Department of Transportation. 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
^ "Chicago–Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor Program: Tier 1 DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). September 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
^ Downey 2007, p. 91
^ Sanders 2006, pp. 241–242
^ Sanders 2006, p. 245
^ Sanders 2006, p. 249

References[]

Downey, Clifford J. (2007). Chicago and the Illinois Central Railroad. Images of rail. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5074-9.
Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.