Union Pacific North Line

Union Pacific North Line
A southbound train departs Highland Park station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Union Pacific Railroad
Locale	Chicago metropolitan area
Termini	Ogilvie Transportation Center Waukegan/Kenosha
Stations	27
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Union Pacific Railroad Metra
Daily ridership	41,000 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Ridership	2,300,363 (2020)
Technical
Line length	51.6 miles (83.0 km)[2]
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend text text Empire Builder to Seattle or Portland Lake Front Depot demolished 84.2 Milwaukee (1966-1971) Menomonee River Milwaukee River closed 83.0 Hiawatha and Empire Builder to Union Station 82.5 Kinnickinnic River 78.2 Cudahy closed 74.7 South Milwaukee closed 61.8 Racine closed Root River 51.6 Kenosha KD Line to Rockford Wisconsin Illinois 44.5 Winthrop Harbor 43.1 closed 42.1 Zion 39.9 closed 37.6 closed 35.9 Waukegan 34.0 Abbott's Platform closed 33.7 North Chicago Canadian National Railway 32.2 Great Lakes 30.2 Lake Bluff 28.3 Lake Forest 25.7 Fort Sheridan 24.5 Highwood 23.0 Highland Park 21.5 Ravinia 20.9 Ravinia Park 20.5 Braeside 19.2 Glencoe 17.7 Hubbard Woods 16.6 Winnetka 15.8 Indian Hill 15.2 Kenilworth 14.4 Wilmette 13.3 Evanston Central Street North Shore Channel 12.7 Weber Subdivision to Mayfair Purple to Linden 12.0 Evanston Davis Street 11.5 Dempster Street closed 11.0 Evanston Main Street 10.3 Calvary closed Purple to Howard or Loop Yellow 9.4 Rogers Park 8.4 closed Peterson Ridge planned 7.8 Rose Hill closed 7.1 closed 6.5 Ravenswood Brown to Kimball 6.2 closed 5.5 closed Brown to Loop 4.6 closed 3.5 closed Chicago River (north branch) UP-NW to Harvard or McHenry 2.8 Clybourn UP-W to Elburn Wells Street Station (1855–1911) MD-N NCS MD-W Green Pink 0.0 Ogilvie This diagram: view talk

The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling stock, the trains are operated and dispatched by the Union Pacific Railroad. This line was previously operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway before its merger with Union Pacific, and was called the Chicago and North Western Milwaukee Division and then the Chicago & North Western/North Line before the C&NW was absorbed by Union Pacific in April 1995. It is the only Metra line that travels outside Illinois.

Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific North line are dark "Flambeau Green," a nod to the C&NW's Flambeau 400 passenger train.^[3])

The current timetable as of September 13, 2021, has 37 inbound trains and 37 outbound trains on weekdays. Of these, five inbound trains originate from Kenosha, 18 from Waukegan, six from Highland Park, and eight from Winnetka. Nine outbound trains terminate at Winnetka, five at Highland Park, 18 at Waukegan, and five at Kenosha.

13 inbound trains and 13 outbound trains operate on Saturdays. Of these, five inbound trains originate from Kenosha and eight from Waukegan. Six outbound trains terminate at Waukegan and seven at Kenosha.

Nine inbound trains and nine outbound trains operate on Sundays. Of these, three inbound trains originate from Kenosha and six from Waukegan. Six outbound trains terminate at Waukegan and three at Kenosha.

During the summer concert season, on weekends, an extra outbound train RAV1 travels to Ravinia Park during events, with a train returning to Chicago after the concert.

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 began on January 4, 1855. Initially, a single train operated each day, departing from a terminal in Chicago at Water St. and Kinzie St. 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. In 1966, the Chicago and North Western closed the Lake Front Depot and began operating into the new Milwaukee Union Station. This service would ultimately prove to be relatively short lived as the Chicago and North Western ended operations between Chicago and Milwaukee in 1971 and the line was truncated to Kenosha.

The North line became part of Metra when the agency was formed in 1984. The trains continued to be operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway under contract until that railroad was bought by Union Pacific in 1995. UP now operates passenger services along the line for Metra. Under a longstanding agreement that UP inherited from the C&NW, Metra owns the vehicles and the stations along the line, but Union Pacific employs the crew who actually operate the trains, and they also control the right-of-way along the route.

All stations on the line except for Ravinia Park are open daily. Ravinia Park is only open during the Ravinia Festival in the summer months.

Ridership[]

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined by 8.3% from 9,328,441 passengers to 8,552,117 passengers.^[9][10] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,300,363 passengers in 2020.^[11]

Route[]

The service uses the Union Pacific Railroad's Kenosha Subdivision between Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Kenosha Subdivision continues to St. Francis, Wisconsin and a junction with the Union Pacific's .^[12] No passenger trains operate north of Kenosha.

The Green Bay Trail parallels 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[]

State	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
WI
		Milwaukee	Milwaukee	Closed April 30, 1971
			National Avenue	Closed between 1943 and 1956
		Cudahy	Cudahy Depot	Closed between 1956 and 1961
		South Milwaukee	South Milwaukee	Closed between 1956 and 1961
		Racine	Racine Depot	Closed April 30, 1971
	J	Kenosha	Kenosha	Kenosha Area Transit: 1, 4 Kenosha Streetcar
IL	I	Winthrop Harbor	Winthrop Harbor
		Zion	Camp Logan	Closed after October 28, 1956, served Camp Logan
			Zion	Pace: 571 Zion
		Beach Park	Dunes Park	Closed after October 28, 1956
		Waukegan	Asbestos	Closed after October 28, 1956
	H		Waukegan	Pace: 561 Castlecrest via McAree, 562 Gurnee via Sunset, 563 GLNS, 564 Jackson/14th, 565 Grand, 568 Belvidere, 571 Zion, 572 Washington
	G	North Chicago	Abbott's Platform	Closed 1986[13]
			North Chicago	Pace: 563 GLNS, 564 Jackson/14th
			Great Lakes	Pace: 563 GLNS
		Lake Bluff	Lake Bluff
	F	Lake Forest	Lake Forest
		Highwood	Fort Sheridan	Pace: 472 Highland Park–Highwood
	E		Highwood	Pace: 472 Highland Park–Highwood
		Highland Park	Highland Park	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road, 471 Highland Park–Northbrook Court, 472 Highland Park–Highwood
			Ravinia
			Ravinia Park	Seasonal
			Braeside
	D	Glencoe	Glencoe	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
		Winnetka	Hubbard Woods	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
			Winnetka	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road, 423 Linden CTA–The Glen–Harlem CTA
			Indian Hill	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
		Kenilworth	Kenilworth	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
	C	Wilmette	Wilmette	Pace: 213 Green Bay Road, 421 Wilmette Avenue, 422 Linden CTA–Glenview–Northbrook Court
		Evanston	Evanston Central Street	CTA Bus: 201 Central/Ridge, 206 Evanston Circulator Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
			Evanston Davis Street	Chicago "L": Purple (at Davis) CTA Bus: 93 California/Dodge, 201 Central/Ridge, 206 Evanston Circulator Pace: 208 Golf Road, 213 Green Bay Road, 250 Dempster Street
			Dempster Street	Closed December 1, 1958
			Evanston Main Street	Chicago "L": Purple (at Main) CTA Bus: 206 Evanston Circulator Pace: 213 Green Bay Road
			Calvary	Closed December 1, 1958
	B	Chicago	Rogers Park	CTA Bus: 22 Clark, 96 Lunt
				Closed December 1, 1958[14]
			Peterson Ridge	Planned station
			Rose Hill	Closed December 1, 1958,[14]
				Closed December 1, 1958[14]
			Ravenswood	Chicago "L": Brown (at Damen) CTA Bus: 81 Lawrence
			Ravenswood–Wilson	Closed December 1, 1958
			Northcenter	Closed December 1, 1958
			Belmont Avenue	Closed December 1, 1958
			Deering	Closed after June 13, 1943
	A		Clybourn	Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest CTA Bus: 9 Ashland, X9 Ashland Express, 73 Armitage
			Ogilvie Transportation Center	Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest, ■ Union Pacific West Chicago "L": Green Pink (at Clinton) CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

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

• Metra Union Pacific/North service schedule