Milwaukee District / North Line
| Milwaukee District / North Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 EMD F40PH No. 120 leads an outbound train at Deerfield | |||
| Overview | |||
| Service type | Commuter rail | ||
| Current operator(s) | Metra | ||
| Ridership | 23,257 (Avg. Weekday 2014)[1] | ||
| Route | |||
| Start | Union Station | ||
| Stops | 22 | ||
| End | Fox Lake | ||
| Distance travelled | 49.7 miles (80.0 km) | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track owner(s) |
| ||
| |||
The Milwaukee District / North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District / North line are pale "Hiawatha Orange" in honor of the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha passenger trains.[2]
The line utilizes the Canadian Pacific Railway's C&M Subdivision from Chicago to Rondout and Metra's Fox Lake Subdivision from Rondout to Fox Lake.
Operations[]
Metra is the primary user of the C&M Subdivision, with commuter services operating between Union Station and Fox Lake. As of April 2021, the public timetable shows 17 weekday departures to Chicago, with 13 beginning at Fox Lake, and 4 beginning at Lake Forest. Each weekday 17 trains depart Chicago Union Station with 4 terminating at Lake Forest and the remainder terminating at Fox Lake. Metra operates a reduced schedule on weekends, with 9 trains operating both to Chicago Union Station and Fox Lake.[3] This service is supplemented by Amtrak, whose Empire Builder and Hiawatha Service inter-city trains stop at Union Station and Glenview.
Metra began increased reverse commute service on the line on March 4, 2019. This service is part of a pilot-program funded under a two-year, public-private partnership between Metra and Lake County Partners.[4] The increased reverse commute service's status is currently unknown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
History[]
Before 1982, this line was operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). When the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt, the Regional Transportation Authority took over operation of the line. By 1984, the line passed to RTA's newly created Commuter Rail Division, which rebranded as Metra in 1985. Today this service is one of several Metra routes operated by Metra crews, but trains are dispatched, under contract, by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which bought the Milwaukee Road in 1986 along with the Soo Line in 1990 and runs freight service over parts of this route.
The Milwaukee District/North Line route and Metra's track ownership diverge from the Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis mainline at Rondout, Illinois and proceeds northwesterly toward Fox Lake. This secondary route, owned by Metra, was known as the Janesville Subdivision (J-Sub) of the Milwaukee Road. The mainline north of Rondout is owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)[5] through its American subsidiary Soo Line Railroad and sees Amtrak and freight traffic only. Metra service and track ownership ends at Fox Lake. The tracks beyond Fox Lake are owned by the State of Wisconsin and operated for freight service by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. Commuter service beyond Fox Lake, abolished in 1982, served the communities of Spring Grove, Illinois, Solon Mills, Illinois, Zenda, Wisconsin, and Walworth, Wisconsin.[6]
Until 1984, there was a stop in Rondout. The station building itself was demolished in the mid-1960s. The station was located at Rondout Junction, where the line crosses the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway's tracks at a diamond junction.[7] Before 1982, service ran as far north as Walworth, Wisconsin.
Metra has conducted studies on extending the Milwaukee District / North Line to Richmond, Illinois, and constructing a second branch, running along the Canadian Pacific main line from Rondout north to Wadsworth. However, there are not any plans to construct the extension.[8]
Ridership[]
Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 7,237,913 to 6,549,143, an overall decline of 9.5%.[9][10] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,556,783 passengers in 2020.[11]
Stations[]
| State | Zone | Location | Station | Connections and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WI | Walworth | Walworth | Closed October 1, 1982 | |
| Zenda | Zenda | Closed October 1, 1982 | ||
| IL | Richmond | Richmond | Proposed new stop[citation needed] | |
| Solon Mills | Solon Mills | Closed October 1, 1982 | ||
| Spring Grove | Spring Grove | Closed October 1, 1982 | ||
| J | Fox Lake | Fox Lake | Pace: 570, 806 | |
| Ingleside | Ingleside | Pace: 570 | ||
| Long Lake | Closed 1984[12] | |||
| Long Lake | ||||
| I | Round Lake | Round Lake | Pace: 570 | |
| Grayslake | Grayslake | Pace: 570 | ||
| H | Libertyville | Prairie Crossing | Metra: North Central Service | |
| Libertyville | ||||
| G | Rondout | Rondout | Closed 1984[12] | |
| F | Lake Forest | Lake Forest | ||
| E | Deerfield | Deerfield | Pace: 471, 632 | |
| Lake Cook Road | Pace: 626, 627, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635 | |||
| Northbrook | Northbrook | Pace: 422 | ||
| Techny | Techny | Closed | ||
| D | Glenview | North Glenview | Pace: 423, 623 | |
| Glenview | Amtrak: Empire Builder, Hiawatha Service Pace: 210, 422, 423 | |||
| Golf | Golf | Pace: 208, 210 | ||
| C | Morton Grove | Morton Grove | Pace: 210, 250 | |
| Chicago | Edgebrook | CTA Bus: 84, 85A Pace: 225, 226 | ||
| Forest Glen | CTA Bus: 92 | |||
| B | Mayfair | Chicago "L": Blue Line (at Montrose) CTA Bus: 54, 54A, 78 | ||
| Grayland | CTA Bus: 56, 152 | |||
| Healy | CTA Bus: 53, 74 | |||
| A | Western Avenue | Metra: Milwaukee District / West Line, North Central Service CTA Bus: 49, X49, 65 | ||
| Union Station | Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Hiawatha Service, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine Metra: BNSF Railway, Milwaukee District / West Line, North Central Service, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service Chicago "L": Blue Line (at Clinton), Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple lines (at Quincy) CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Pace: 755 Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (Greyhound) |
References[]
- ^ "Milwaukee District North Line Weekday Ridership". Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics (RTAMS). Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009.
- ^ "Metra Milwaukee District North Line" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ "Metra to begin reverse-commute service from Chicago to Lake County". Progressive Railroading. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ Metra Railfan Tips - Milwaukee District/North Line
- ^ Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Suburban Service; North Timetable (November 14, 1971)
- ^ Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Chicago-Fox Lake
- ^ "Wadsworth Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Meta. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-04-04.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ridership Trends - Annual Report 2017 (PDF) (Report). Metra Division of Strategic Capital Planning. February 2018. p. 32. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metra Milwaukee District/North Line. |
Route map:
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- Metra Milwaukee District/North service schedule
- Metra
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
- Railway lines in Chicago