Union Pacific West Line

Union Pacific West Line
Union Pacific West Line
	A Metra train at Geneva
Overview
Owner	Union Pacific Railroad (Leased to Metra)
Termini	Ogilvie Transportation Center; Elburn;
Stations	19
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Union Pacific Railroad; Metra
Daily ridership	27,196 (avg. weekday 2014)
Ridership	2,408,426 (2022)
Technical
Line length	43.8 miles
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
	43.6 mi
	70.2 km
	40.9 mi
	65.8 km
	38.1 mi
	61.3 km
	35.3 mi
	56.8 km
	29.8 mi
	48 km
	DuPage River
	(West Branch)
	27.5 mi
	44.3 km
	Illinois Prairie Path/
	Chicago Aurora and Elgin
	25.0 mi
	40.2 km
	23.8 mi
	38.3 km
	22.4 mi
	36 km
	DuPage River
	(East Branch)
	19.9 mi
	32 km
	17.8 mi
	28.6 km
	15.7 mi
	25.3 km
	14.3 mi
	23 km
	12.6 mi
	20.3 km
	11.3 mi
	18.2 km
	10.5 mi
	16.9 km
	9.7 mi
	15.6 km
	9.1 mi
	14.6 km
	8.5 mi
	13.7 km
	8.2 mi
	13.2 km
	7.7 mi
	12.4 km
	7.2 mi
	11.6 km
	6.7 mi
	10.8 km
	to Ashland/63rd
	and Cottage Grove
	4.8 mi
	7.7 km
	3.6 mi
	5.8 km
	3.0 mi
	4.8 km
	2.6 mi
	4.2 km
	Chicago 'L'
	Logan Square branch
	MD-N MD-W NCS/Amtrak
	to Union Station
	Mileage source

The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) is a Metra commuter rail line operated by Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific West line are "Kate Shelley Rose" pink, honoring an Iowa woman who saved a Chicago & North Western Railway train from disaster in 1881. Green and yellow were already selected for the Union Pacific North Line and Union Pacific Northwest Line, respectively, so pink was chosen for this line. Therefore, the UP-W is the only Metra line that uses a color to honor a person instead of a fallen flag railroad.^[4] Until the late 1940s the line had a branch to Freeport, Illinois. It diverged from the main line at West Chicago and had stations at Elgin, Marengo, Belvidere, Rockford, Freeport, and other communities. The line was once known as the Chicago & Northwestern/West Line until UP took over the C&NW in 1995. All Metra trains on this line terminated at Geneva until 2006, when the line was extended to its present terminus in Elburn. The line runs as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's Geneva Subdivision (ex-C&NW line to Clinton, Iowa).

The line runs from the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago through the western suburbs to Elburn. This is the oldest railway route built from Chicago, the route of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad along Kinzie Street.

As of May 30, 2023, Metra operates 58 trains (29 in each direction) on the Union Pacific West Line on weekdays. Of these, 23 inbound trains originate from Elburn, two from La Fox, three from Geneva, and one from West Chicago. Two outbound trains terminate at Geneva, three at La Fox, and the remaining 24 terminate at Elburn.

On weekends, all trains run the full route to Elburn, with Metra operating 10 roundtrip trains on Saturday and nine on Sundays and holidays.

Union Pacific is building a third track from West Chicago through all of Geneva. The project started in September 2022 and is expected to be finished in July 2024. The improvements are designed to ensure smoother traffic flow and reduce conflicts between commuter and freight trains.^[5]

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.^[6]

Ridership

Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 8,423,188 to 7,883,185, an overall decline of 6.4%.^[7]^[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,945,886 passengers in 2020 and to 1,486,536 passengers in 2021.^[9]^[10]^[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

9,000,000

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Station stops

County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
Kane	I	Elburn	Elburn	Huskie Line: 12 Elburn Shuttle
	I	La Fox	La Fox
		St. Charles	St. Charles	St. Charles branch
	H	Geneva	Geneva	Pace: 801 Elgin–Geneva, 802 Aurora–Geneva via Lake
DuPage	F	West Chicago	West Chicago
	F	Winfield	Winfield
	E	Wheaton	Wheaton	Pace: 301 Roosevelt Rd, 711 Wheaton–Addison, 714 COD–Naperville–Wheaton Connector
		Wheaton	College Avenue	Pace: 714 COD–Naperville–Wheaton Connector
		Glen Ellyn	Glen Ellyn	Pace: 715 Central DuPage
	D	Lombard	Lombard
		Villa Park	Villa Park
		Elmhurst	Elmhurst	Pace: 309 Lake St, 332 River Road–York Rd
Cook	C	Berkeley	Berkeley	Formerly named Proviso
		Bellwood	Bellwood	Pace: 313 St. Charles Rd, 330 Mannheim–LaGrange Rds
		Melrose Park	Melrose Park	Pace: 303 Forest Park–Rosemont, 309 Lake Street, 313 St. Charles Road
		Maywood	Maywood	Pace: 309 Lake St, 313 St. Charles Rd, 331 Cumberland–5th Ave
	B	River Forest	River Forest	Pace: 309 Lake St, 313 St. Charles Rd
		River Forest	Lathrop	Closed December 1, 1958
		Oak Park	Oak Park	Chicago "L": Green (at Harlem/Lake) CTA Bus: 90 Harlem Pace: 307 Harlem, 309 Lake St, 313 St. Charles Rd, 318 W North Ave, 770 Brookfield Zoo Express
			Avenue	Closed December 1, 1958
			Ridgeland	Closed December 1, 1958
			Austin Boulevard	Closed December 1, 1958
		Chicago	Austin	Closed December 1, 1958
			Keeler	Employee only stop, serves adjacent maintenance facility
	A		Kedzie	Chicago "L": Green (at Kedzie) CTA Bus: 52 Kedzie
	A		Ogilvie Transportation Center	Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest, ■ Union Pacific North Chicago "L": Green Pink (at Clinton) CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192

Freeport Branch

This branch line ran from West Chicago to Freeport, Illinois. Service was discontinued in the late 1940s. Metra is planning to revive service from Big Timber Road to Rockford on this line, stopping in Huntley and Belvidere, but there are no plans to restore passenger service south of Elgin.

County	Location	Station	Connections
Stephenson	Freeport	Freeport	Illinois Central trains
Stephenson	Ridott	Ridott
Winnebago	Pecatonica	Pecatonica
	Winnebago	Winnebago
	Rockford	Rockford	KD Line
	Rockford	East Rockford
	Cherry Valley	Cherry Valley
Boone	Belvidere	Belvidere	Trains to Spring Valley and Janesville
Boone	Garden Prairie	Garden Prairie
McHenry	Marengo	Marengo
	Union	Union	Illinois Railway Museum
	Huntley	Huntley
Kane	Gilberts	Gilberts
	Elgin	Elgin (West Side)	Trains to Crystal Lake, Milwaukee Road trains
	South Elgin	South Elgin
DuPage	Wayne	Wayne

References

↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Metra Railfan Tips - Union Pacific/West
↑ State of the System - Union Pacific West
↑ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.
↑ "Union Pacific Third Main Line Project | Geneva, IL - Official Website".
↑ "Union Pacific Transferring Commuter Rail Services to Metra". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
↑ "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.
↑ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2021" (PDF).
↑ RTAMS. "Metra Ridership by Line".

External links

Template:Attached KML/Union Pacific / West Line

KML is from Wikidata

Metra Union Pacific/West service schedule

Media related to Metra Union Pacific/West Line at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Metra Railfan Tips - Union Pacific/West

[3] State of the System - Union Pacific West

[4] "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.

[5] "Union Pacific Third Main Line Project | Geneva, IL - Official Website".

[6] "Union Pacific Transferring Commuter Rail Services to Metra". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved April 1, 2023.

[2018report-7] "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

[2019report-8] "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.

[9] "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-04-04.

[10] "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2021" (PDF).

[11] RTAMS. "Metra Ridership by Line".

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Passenger trains of the Union Pacific Railroad

Early articulated streamliners	M-10000 M-10001 M-10002 M-10003 to M-10006
City fleet	City of Denver City of Kansas City City of Las Vegas City of Los Angeles City of Portland City of Salina City of San Francisco City of St. Louis
Commuter rails	Metra (West, Northwest, North)
Others	Butte Special Challenger Colorado Special Columbine Forty Niner Gold Coast Idahoan Los Angeles Limited Nightingale Overland Overland Flyer Overland Limited Pacific Limited Pony Express Portland Limited Portland Rose Saint Louis Express San Francisco Challenger San Francisco Overland San Francisco Overland Limited Spokane Treasure Island Special Utahn Yellowstone Special
Rolling stock	Astra Dome Pacific series Placid series