Union Pacific Northwest Line

The Union Pacific Northwest Line (UP-NW) is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its surrounding suburbs. While Metra does not refer to any of its lines by colors, the timetable accents for the Union Pacific Northwest Line are bright "Viking Yellow," honoring the Chicago & North Western Railway's Viking passenger train.

Union Pacific Northwest Line
A Union Pacific Northwest Line train led by an EMD F40PH in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois
Overview
Service type	Commuter Rail
Locale	Cook and McHenry counties, Illinois
Current operator(s)	Metra Union Pacific Railroad
Ridership	38,600 (Avg. Weekday 2014) 18,800 (Avg. Weekend 2014)
Annual ridership	4,618,099 (2023)
Route
Termini	Ogilvie Transportation Center Harvard, McHenry
Stops	22 (to Harvard) 20 (to McHenry) 23 (total)
Line(s) used	Harvard Subdivision McHenry Subdivision
Technical
Track owner(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Route map Union Pacific Northwest Line highlighted in yellow 63.2 mi 101.7 km Former service to Williams Bay 1 76.4 mi 123 km Williams Bay text 70.4 mi 113.3 km Lake Geneva White River 64.9 mi 104.4 km Pell Lake Nippersink Creek (north branch) 61.6 mi 99.1 km Genoa City Wisconsin Illinois Nippersink Creek (north branch) 59.9 mi 96.4 km Richmond Milwaukee Road North Line to Walworth Milwaukee Road North Line to Fox Lake & Union Station 53.8 mi 86.6 km Ringwood 52.8 mi 85 km Johnsburg proposed Boone Creek Union Pacific Railroad 63.1 mi 101.5 km Harvard Mokeler Creek Kishwaukee River (north branch) 55.7 mi 89.6 km Hartland Woodstock Yard planned 51.6 mi 83 km Woodstock 50.6 mi 81.4 km McHenry 47.3 mi 76.1 km Prairie Grove proposed 45.7 mi 73.5 km Ridgefield Crystal Lake Yard 43.2 mi 69.5 km Crystal Lake McHenry Branch 41.7 mi 67.1 km Pingree Road 38.6 mi 62.1 km Cary Fox River 37.3 mi 60 km Fox River Grove EJ&E Railway 31.9 mi 51.3 km Barrington 26.4 mi 42.5 km Palatine 24.4 mi 39.3 km Arlington Park 22.8 mi 36.7 km Arlington Heights 20.0 mi 32.2 km Mount Prospect 18.6 mi 29.9 km Cumberland Union Pacific Railroad NCS to Antioch to Union Station 17.1 mi 27.5 km Des Plaines Des Plaines River I-294 15.0 mi 24.1 km Dee Road 13.5 mi 21.7 km Park Ridge 12.6 mi 20.3 km Edison Park 11.4 mi 18.3 km Norwood Park 10.1 mi 16.3 km Gladstone Park Blue to O'Hare | I-90 9.1 mi 14.6 km Jefferson Park MD-N to Fox Lake to Union Station 12.3 mi 19.8 km Skokie 10.8 mi 17.4 km Lincolnwood 9.8 mi 15.8 km Sauganash Weber Subdivision to UP-N Peterson Avenue River Jct. Chicago River (north branch) 7.6 mi 12.2 km Mayfair Union Pacific Railroad 7.1 mi 11.4 km Kostner Avenue 7.0 mi 11.3 km Irving Park | Irving Park Blue | I-90 / I-94 5.9 mi 9.5 km Parkview 5.1 mi 8.2 km Avondale 4.1 mi 6.6 km Maplewood UP-N to Kenosha 2.9 mi 4.7 km Clybourn UP-W to Elburn Blue Chicago River (north branch) Wells Street Station MD-N MD-W NCS Green Pink 0 mi Ogilvie Blue to Forest Park MD-N MD-W NCS/Amtrak to Union Station Key Union Pacific Northwest Line Former route alignment Other Metra lines Metra Milwaukee District lines Other freight lines CTA lines Mileage source All stations are accessible except Clybourn and Gladstone Park.

The line runs from Ogilvie Transportation Center to Harvard, Illinois. However, most trains terminate in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A branch line to McHenry, Illinois operates during weekday rush hours in the peak direction. Overall, this is Metra's longest route and one of three routes with branches (the others being the Rock Island District and Metra Electric District). The line is Metra's second busiest with an average of 38,600 boardings on a weekday. It is second only to the BNSF Line.

As of February 16, 2024, Metra operates 78 trains (39 in each direction) on the line on weekdays. Of these, 14 inbound trains originate from Harvard, three from McHenry, 13 from Crystal Lake, four from Barrington, one from Palatine, and four from Des Plaines. Five outbound trains terminate at Des Plaines, three at Palatine, three at Barrington, 12 at Crystal Lake, three at McHenry, and 13 at Harvard.

Metra operates 34 trains (17 in each direction) on the line on Saturdays. Of these, 10 inbound trains originate from Harvard, five from Crystal Lake, one from Barrington, and one from Arlington Heights. Two outbound trains terminate at Barrington, five at Crystal Lake, and 10 at Harvard.

Metra operates 21 trains (10 inbound, 11 outbound) on the line on Sundays. Of these, seven inbound trains originate from Harvard, two from Crystal Lake, and one from Arlington Heights. Three outbound trains terminate at Crystal Lake and eight terminate at Harvard.

There is no service at Gladstone Park station or on the McHenry branch on weekends or holidays. All other stations are open daily.

The main line is triple-tracked from Clybourn to just southeast of Barrington, with a bidirectional express track, and double tracked from Barrington to Harvard. The McHenry branch is single-tracked. Historically, double track was maintained from Harvard to Baraboo, Wisconsin. A now-gone portion of the Union Pacific Northwest Line diverged at Harvard and passed through Beloit, Wisconsin, and reconnected to the main line at Evansville junction to allow a separate passenger and freight line. Around the time the Beloit line was abandoned, the railroad single-tracked the line from Harvard to Janesville.

Metra has included the possibility of extending the McHenry branch to Johnsburg in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the branch would open an infill station in Prairie Grove. Additionally, an infill station would open in Ridgefield between Crystal Lake and Woodstock along the line to Harvard.

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.

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 11,609,358 to 10,384,356, an overall decline of 10.6%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,602,403 passengers in 2020.

2,500,000

5,000,000

7,500,000

10,000,000

12,500,000

15,000,000

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Stations

State	County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
WI	Rock		Evansville	Evansville	Closed 1965
			Janesville	Janesville	Closed
			Clinton	Clinton	Closed 1966
	Walworth		Sharon	Sharon	Closed 1966
IL	McHenry	4	Harvard	Harvard	Pace: 808 42°25′11.6″N 88°37′3.0″W
			Hartland	Hartland	Closed 1984
			Woodstock	Woodstock	Pace: 807, 808 42°19′1″N 88°26′53″W
			Ridgefield	Ridgefield	Closed, proposed new stop
		4	Crystal Lake	Crystal Lake	Pace: 550, 806, 808 42°14′38.8″N 88°19′1.9″W
				McHenry branch begins/ends
				Pingree Road	42°14′3.1″N 88°17′52.8″W
			Cary	Cary	42°12′32.4″N 88°14′29.4″W
			Fox River Grove	Fox River Grove	Formerly named Chicago Highlands 42°11′52.4″N 88°13′9.8″W
	Cook		Barrington	Barrington	42°9′10.4″N 88°7′55.2″W
			Palatine	Palatine	42°6′47.2″N 88°2′54.2″W
		3	Arlington Heights	Arlington Park	42°5′43.1″N 88°0′33.1″W
				Arlington Heights	42°5′3.5″N 87°59′1.0″W
			Mount Prospect	Mount Prospect	Pace: 234 42°3′47.2″N 87°56′10.0″W
			Des Plaines	Cumberland	Pace: 208, 221, 234 42°3′8.6″N 87°54′43.9″W
				Des Plaines	Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234, 250 Pace Pulse: 101 Dempster Line 42°2′28″N 87°53′13″W
		2	Park Ridge	Dee Road	Pace: 209, 226, 240 42°1′26.8″N 87°51′22.3″W
				Park Ridge	Pace: 209, 241, 290 CTA Bus: 68 42°0′36.7″N 87°49′53.8″W
			Skokie	Skokie	Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958
			Lincolnwood	Lincolnwood	Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958
			Chicago	Sauganash	Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958
				Peterson	Weber branch; Closed December 1, 1958
				Edison Park	CTA Bus: 68 42°0′9.0″N 87°49′4.8″W
				Norwood Park	CTA Bus: 68 41°59′30.5″N 87°47′56.0″W
				Gladstone Park	CTA Bus: 68 41°58′47.3″N 87°46′40.4″W
				Jefferson Park	Chicago "L": Blue CTA Bus: 56, 68, 81, 81W, 85, 85A, 88, 91, 92 Pace: 225, 226, 270 Pace Pulse: 100 Milwaukee Line 41°58′15.64″N 87°45′45.18″W
				Mayfair	Closed December 1, 1958
				Kostner	Closed December 1, 1958
				Irving Park	Chicago "L": Blue (at Irving Park) CTA Bus: 53, N53, 54A, 80 41°57′9.0″N 87°43′48.4″W
				Parkview	Closed December 1, 1958
				Avondale	Closed December 1, 1958
				Maplewood	Closed December 1, 1958
		2		Clybourn	Metra: ■ Union Pacific North CTA Bus: 9, X9, 73 41°55′1.9″N 87°40′5.5″W
		1		Ogilvie Transportation Center	Metra: ■ Union Pacific North, ■ Union Pacific West Chicago "L": Green Pink (at Clinton) CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192 41°52′57.7″N 87°38′25.1″W

McHenry branch

The branch, which formerly had service north to Williams Bay, branches off from the main line north of Pingree Road.

State	County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
WI	Walworth
			Williams Bay	Williams Bay	Closed 1966
			Lake Geneva	Lake Geneva	Closed 1975
			Pell Lake	Pell Lake	Closed 1975
			Genoa City	Genoa City	Closed 1975
IL	McHenry	4
			Richmond	Richmond	Closed 1980
			Ringwood	Ringwood	Closed 1980
			Johnsburg	Johnsburg	Proposed new stop
			McHenry	McHenry	Pace: 806, 807 42°20′36.2″N 88°16′33.6″W
			Prairie Grove	Prairie Grove	Proposed new stop

External links

Template:Attached KML/Union Pacific / Northwest Line

KML is from Wikidata

• Metra Union Pacific/Northwest Archived 2016-06-28 at the Wayback Machine service schedule

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