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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 (Most trips) Kenosha
Stations	28
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Union Pacific Railroad Metra
Daily ridership	41,000 (Avg. Weekday 2009)
Ridership	4,131,189 (2023)
Technical
Line length	51.6 miles (83.0 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Union Pacific North Line highlighted in dark green Show interactive map Legend text text Amtrak to St. Paul, Seattle, or Portland Lake Front Depot 84.2 mi 135.5 km Milwaukee (1966-1971) Menomonee River Milwaukee River National Avenue Kinnickinnic River Amtrak to Union Station 78.2 mi 125.9 km Cudahy 74.7 mi 120.2 km South Milwaukee 61.8 mi 99.5 km Racine Root River Pike River 51.5 mi 82.9 km Kenosha KD Line to Rockford Wisconsin Illinois 44.5 mi 71.6 km Winthrop Harbor 43.1 mi 69.4 km Camp Logan 42.1 mi 67.8 km Zion 39.9 mi 64.2 km Dunes Park 37.6 mi 60.5 km Asbestos EJ&E Railway 35.9 mi 57.8 km Waukegan Waukegan Coach Yard 34.0 mi 54.7 km Abbott's Platform 33.7 mi 54.2 km North Chicago 32.0 mi 51.5 km Great Lakes 30.2 mi 48.6 km Lake Bluff Union Pacific Railroad 28.3 mi 45.5 km Lake Forest 25.7 mi 41.4 km Fort Sheridan 24.5 mi 39.4 km Highwood 23.0 mi 37 km Highland Park 21.5 mi 34.6 km Ravinia 20.9 mi 33.6 km Ravinia Park (Seasonal) 20.5 mi 33 km Braeside 19.2 mi 30.9 km Glencoe 17.7 mi 28.5 km Hubbard Woods 16.6 mi 26.7 km Winnetka 15.8 mi 25.4 km Indian Hill 15.2 mi 24.5 km Kenilworth 14.4 mi 23.2 km Wilmette 13.3 mi 21.4 km Evanston Central Street North Shore Channel 12.7 mi 20.4 km Weber Subdivision to UP-NW Purple to Linden 12.0 mi 19.3 km Evanston Davis Street 11.5 mi 18.5 km Dempster Street 11.0 mi 17.7 km Evanston Main Street 10.3 mi 16.6 km Calvary Purple to Howard or the Loop Yellow to Dempster–Skokie to Howard 9.4 mi 15.1 km Rogers Park 8.4 mi 13.5 km Kenmore 8.3 mi 13.4 km Peterson/Ridge 7.8 mi 12.6 km Rose Hill 7.1 mi 11.4 km Summerdale 6.5 mi 10.5 km Ravenswood Brown to Kimball 6.2 mi 10 km Ravenswood–Wilson 5.5 mi 8.9 km Northcenter Brown to the Loop 4.6 mi 7.4 km Belmont Avenue 3.5 mi 5.6 km Deering Chicago River (north branch) UP-NW to Harvard or McHenry 2.9 mi 4.7 km Clybourn UP-W to Elburn Blue to O'Hare Chicago River (north branch) Wells Street Station MD-N MD-W NCS Green Pink Blue to Forest Park 0 mi Ogilvie Key Union Pacific North Line Former route alignment Other Metra lines Metra Milwaukee District lines Other freight lines CTA lines Mileage source All stations are accessible except Clybourn, Indian Hill, and Hubbard Woods. This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

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 the Union Pacific Railroad, 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.

Until 2022, a private club car ran weekdays exclusively on the Union Pacific North Line. It was the last remaining private car in service on a commuter railroad in the United States.

The current timetable as of December 5, 2022 shows 70 trains (35 in each direction) on weekdays. Of these, six inbound trains originate from Kenosha, 17 from Waukegan, six from Highland Park, and six from Winnetka. Seven outbound trains terminate at Winnetka, five at Highland Park, 17 at Waukegan, and six at Kenosha.

13 trains operate in each direction 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 trains operate in each direction 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, named RAV1, makes all stops to Evanston Central Street, then runs express 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. 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. 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. The railroad merged with the Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Railroad in 1863, and was acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1866. 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.

By the first quarter of 2024, the Union Pacific Railroad is expected to transfer operations of the three Union Pacific lines to Metra. The Union Pacific will continue to own and maintain the right-of-way.

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. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,300,363 passengers in 2020. As of October 2024, the line has Metra's highest ridership recovery rate at 83% of pre-pandemic weekday ridership. Peak-direction ridership is at 70% of pre-pandemic numbers, while all other metrics (reverse-peak, midday, evening, Saturday, and Sunday ridership) is at or above pre-pandemic ridership.

Route

The service shares the Union Pacific Railroad's Harvard Subdivision with the Union Pacific Northwest Line from Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago to a junction just before Clybourn station. From Clybourn, the North Line splits from the Northwest Line and traverses the Kenosha Subdivision north to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Kenosha Subdivision continues to St. Francis, Wisconsin and a junction with the Union Pacific's Milwaukee Subdivision. 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 the Chicago Loop to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Stations

State	County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
WI	Milwaukee
			Milwaukee	Lake Front Depot	Closed 1966
				Union Station	Closed April 30, 1971
				National Avenue	Closed between 1943 and 1956
			Cudahy	Cudahy	Closed 1957
			South Milwaukee	South Milwaukee	Closed between 1956 and 1961
	Racine
			Racine	Racine	Closed April 30, 1971
	Kenosha	4	Kenosha	Kenosha	Kenosha Area Transit: 1, 4 Kenosha Streetcar
IL	Lake		Winthrop Harbor	Winthrop Harbor
			Zion	Camp Logan	Closed after October 28, 1956, served Camp Logan
				Zion	Pace: 571
			Beach Park	Dunes Park	Closed after October 28, 1956
			Waukegan	Asbestos	Closed after October 28, 1956
		4		Waukegan	Pace: 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 568, 571, 572
			North Chicago	Abbott's Platform	Closed 1986
				North Chicago	Pace: 563, 564
				Great Lakes	Pace: 563
			Lake Bluff	Lake Bluff
			Lake Forest	Lake Forest
			Highwood	Fort Sheridan	Pace: 472
				Highwood	Pace: 472
			Highland Park	Highland Park	Pace: 213, 471, 472
		3		Ravinia
				Ravinia Park	Seasonal
				Braeside
	Cook		Glencoe	Glencoe	Pace: 213
			Winnetka	Hubbard Woods	Pace: 213
				Winnetka	Pace: 213, 423
				Indian Hill	Pace: 213
			Kenilworth	Kenilworth	Pace: 213
		2	Wilmette	Wilmette	Pace: 213, 421, 422
			Evanston	Evanston Central Street	CTA Bus: 201, 206 Pace: 213
				Evanston Davis Street	Chicago "L": Purple (at Davis) CTA Bus: 93, 201, 206 Pace: 208, 213, 250 Pace Pulse: 101 Dempster Line
				Dempster Street	Closed December 1, 1958
				Evanston Main Street	Chicago "L": Purple (at Main) CTA Bus: 206 Pace: 213
				Calvary	Closed December 1, 1958
			Chicago	Rogers Park	CTA Bus: 22, 96
				Kenmore	Closed December 1, 1958
				Peterson/Ridge	CTA Bus: 84
				Rose Hill	Closed December 1, 1958
				Summerdale	Closed December 1, 1958
				Ravenswood	Chicago "L": Brown (at Damen) CTA Bus: 9, 81
				Ravenswood–Wilson	Closed after July 3, 1963
				Northcenter	Closed December 1, 1958
				Belmont Avenue	Closed December 1, 1958
				Deering	Closed after June 13, 1943
		2		Clybourn	Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest CTA Bus: 9, X9, 73
				Kinzie Street Depot	Closed c. 1879
				Wells Street Station	Closed 1911, replaced by the Chicago and Northwestern Terminal (Ogilvie Transportation Center)
		1		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

See also

• Kenosha–Racine–Milwaukee rail service, a proposed restoration of passenger service between Kenosha and Milwaukee.

References

1. "Ridership Reports – System Facts". Metra. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
2. Metra Railfan Tips – Union Pacific/North Line Archived September 12, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
3. State of the System - Union Pacific North Line
4. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
5. "Gurnee History". Village of Gurnee. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
6. Mason, Blanche (1919). "Historical Sketch of Highland Park". Highland Park Public Library. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
7. ^ Giles, H. H. (1879). "Wisconsin Railroads". The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company. pp. 173–185.
8. Ebner, Michael H. "Lake County, IL". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
9. "Chicago & North Western – A Capsule History". Chicago & North Western Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
10. "Union Pacific Transferring Commuter Rail Services to Metra". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
11. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
12. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
13. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
14. RTAMS. "Metra Ridership by Line".
15. "Ridership Reports, October 2024" (PDF). Metra.com. November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
16. "Illinois State Rail Plan" (PDF). Illinois Department of Transportation. 2012. pp. 4–28.
17. Ridership Trends - Annual Report 2017 (PDF) (Report). Metra Division of Strategic Capital Planning. February 2018. p. 32. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
18. ^ "Chicago & North Western Railroad: History of Milwaukee line". Edgewater Historical Society. Retrieved August 10, 2018.

External links

• Metra Union Pacific/North service schedule

• Metra lines
• Chicago and North Western Railway
• Union Pacific North Line