Milwaukee District North Line

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Milwaukee District / North Line
Metra City of Woodstock in Deerfield.jpg
EMD F40PH No. 120 leads an outbound train at Deerfield
Overview
Service typeCommuter rail
Current operator(s)Metra
Ridership23,257 (Avg. Weekday 2014)[1]
Annual ridership1,556,783 (2020)
Route
StartUnion Station
Stops22
EndFox Lake
Distance travelled49.7 miles (80.0 km)
Technical
Track owner(s)Metra (dispatched by Canadian Pacific Railway between Rondout and A-5 junction with Milwaukee District West Line)

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 July 12, 2021, the public timetable shows 19 weekday departures to Chicago, with 14 beginning at Fox Lake, four beginning at Lake Forest, and one beginning at Deerfield. Each weekday 19 trains depart Chicago Union Station with one train terminating at Deerfield, four terminating at Lake Forest, and the remainder terminating at Fox Lake. Metra operates a reduced schedule on weekends, with nine trains operating both to Chicago Union Station and Fox Lake, with one additional train between Lake Forest and Chicago on Saturdays. 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.[3] 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 through its American subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad, which operates freight trains over this route.[4]

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, Solon Mills, Zenda, and Walworth.[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]

1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

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 Bus interchange Pace: 570 Fox Lake–CLC, 806 Crystal Lake–Fox Lake
Ingleside InglesideDodgerBlue flag waving.svg Bus interchange Pace: 570 Fox Lake–CLC
Long Lake Closed 1984[12]
Long Lake
I Round Lake Round Lake Bus interchange Pace: 570 Fox Lake–CLC
Grayslake Grayslake Bus interchange Pace: 570 Fox Lake–CLC
H Libertyville Prairie Crossing Metra Metra: ■ North Central Service
Libertyville
G Rondout Rondout Closed 1984[12]
F Lake Forest Lake Forest
E Deerfield Deerfield Bus interchange Pace: 471 Highland Park–Northbrook Court
Lake Cook Road Bus interchange Pace: 626 Skokie–Buffalo Grove Limited
Northbrook Northbrook Bus interchange Pace: 422 Linden CTA–Glenview–Northbrook Court
Techny Techny Closed
D Glenview North Glenview Bus interchange Pace: 423 Linden CTA–The Glen–Harlem CTA
Glenview Amtrak Amtrak: Empire Builder, Hiawatha
Bus interchange Pace: 210 Lincoln Avenue, 422 Linden CTA–Glenview–Northbrook Court, 423 Linden CTA–The Glen–Harlem CTA
Golf Golf Bus interchange Pace: 208 Golf Road, 210 Lincoln Avenue
C Morton Grove Morton Grove Bus interchange Pace: 210 Lincoln Avenue, 250 Dempster Street
Chicago Edgebrook Bus interchange CTA Bus: 84 Peterson, 85A North Central
Bus interchange Pace: 225, 226
Forest Glen Bus interchange CTA Bus: 92 Foster
B Mayfair Chicago Transit Authority Logo.svg Chicago "L": Blue (at Montrose)
Bus interchange CTA Bus: 54 Cicero, 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd, 78 Montrose
Grayland Bus interchange CTA Bus: 56 Milwaukee, 152 Addison
Healy Bus interchange CTA Bus: 53 Pulaski, 74 Fullerton
A Western Avenue Metra Metra: ■ Milwaukee District West, ■ North Central Service
Bus interchange CTA Bus: 49 Western, X49 Western Express, 65 Grand
Union Station Amtrak Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle
Amtrak Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Hiawatha, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine
Metra Metra: ■ BNSF, ■ Milwaukee District West, ■ North Central Service, ■ Heritage Corridor, ■ SouthWest Service
Chicago Transit Authority Logo.svg Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy)
Bus interchange CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192
Bus interchange Pace: 755 Plainfield–IMD–West Loop Express
Bus interchange Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (Greyhound)

References[]

  1. ^ "Milwaukee District North Line Weekday Ridership". Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics (RTAMS). Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009.
  3. ^ "Metra to begin reverse-commute service from Chicago to Lake County". Progressive Railroading. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  4. ^ s_c_kos (2008-06-17), CP 9633 East at Libertyville, Ill., retrieved 2022-01-04
  5. ^ Metra Railfan Tips - Milwaukee District/North Line
  6. ^ Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Suburban Service; North Timetable (November 14, 1971)
  7. ^ Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Chicago-Fox Lake
  8. ^ "Wadsworth Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 2021-04-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  11. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-04-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

Route map:

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