BNSF Line

The BNSF Line is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs, running from Chicago Union Station to Aurora, Illinois through the Chicago Subdivision. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of the 11 Metra lines. While Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, the BNSF line's color on Metra timetables is "Cascade Green," in honor of the Burlington Northern Railroad.

As of April 29, 2024, the public timetable shows 91 trains (44 inbound, 47 outbound) on the BNSF Line on weekdays. Of these, 32 inbound trains originate from Template:Stl, one from Template:Stl, nine from Template:Stl, and two from Template:Stl. Five outbound trains terminate at Brookfield, eight at Fairview Avenue, three at Template:Stl, and the rest at Aurora. Weekend and holiday service consists of 36 trains (18 in each direction), with trains making all stops from Union Station to Aurora, save for a morning and afternoon inbound express train and an afternoon outbound train that run express from Union Station to Downers Grove Main Street.

The line is operated by BNSF under a "purchase of service agreement" with Metra, inherited from Burlington Northern. While Metra owns all rolling stock, the management and crews are BNSF employees. BNSF is the owner of the right-of-way, controls the line and handles dispatching from corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Metra imposes a 70 mph maximum allowed speed for passenger trains. The BNSF Line is the only remaining Metra commuter line that operates via a purchase-of-service agreement since the Union Pacific Railroad transferred the operations and supplying of commuter trains to Metra for the routes originating from the Ogilvie Transportation Center in 2025.

History

The railroad between Chicago and Aurora was constructed in 1864 by the Chicago and Aurora Railroad, which evolved into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB&Q operated the commuter service until the railroad merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970. Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1995 to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which would later rename itself to BNSF Railway.

When the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) began subsidizing Chicago's commuter rail operations in 1974, Burlington Northern continued to operate its line under contract to the RTA. This arrangement continued when the RTA organized its commuter rail lines under the RTA Commuter Rail Division in 1983, later rebranded as Metra in 1985.

Today, the triple-track line is one of the busiest rail corridors in the United States. In addition to the 91 Metra trains that currently use the line, BNSF freight trains frequent the line at all hours. Amtrak's Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, and Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg use the line as well, making an intermediate stop at Template:Stl. The Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg services also stop at Template:Stl. Rail fans have coined the line as the "BNSF Racetrack".

The Template:Stl station at South Austin Boulevard and West 29th Street in Cicero was closed on April 1, 2007 due to low ridership and its dilapidation. In the months before its closure, it was used by about 50 passengers a day.

Kendall County extension

There have been proposals to extend service west into Kendall County, which as of 2020 is outside the RTA's service area. Potential new stations would be built in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, and Sandwich, Illinois. The Plano station would be located over 1 mile west of the CB&Q Depot currently used by Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains.

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined 7% from 16.7 million to 15.5 million passengers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 3,659,617 passengers in 2020.

Rolling stock

The BNSF Line's locomotive fleet consists of the EMD F40PH-3 and the EMD F40PHM-3. Until 2012, some MPI MP36PH-3S locomotives (401-405) also operated on the line; however, they were reassigned to the Milwaukee lines and the North Central Service due to operating difficulties. Passenger cars include Gallery Cars from Pullman (Bike Car), Budd, Morrison-Knudsen/Amerail, and Nippon Sharyo.

Stations

County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
Cook	1	Chicago	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Template:Lnl, Template:Lnl, Empire Builder, Template:Lnl, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle Template:Rint Amtrak (intercity): Template:Lnl, Borealis, Hiawatha, Template:Lnl, Template:Lnl, Lincoln Service, Template:Lnl, Template:Lnl Template:Rint Metra: Template:Rcb, Template:Rcb, Template:Rcb, Template:Rcb, Template:Rcb Template:Rint Chicago "L": Template:Rcb (at Template:Cta), Template:Rcb Template:Rcb Template:Rcb Template:Rcb (at Template:Cta) Template:Rint CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Template:Rint Pace Bus: 755 Template:Rint Amtrak Thruway: Chicago–Madison and Chicago–Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago–Louisville (Greyhound)
	2		Template:Stl	Template:Rint CTA Bus: 8, 18, N62
			Template:Stl	Template:Rint Chicago "L": Template:Rcb (at Template:Cta) Template:Rint CTA Bus: 18, 49, X49
		Cicero	Template:Stl	Template:Rint CTA Bus: 35, 54, 54B, 60
			Morton Park	Closed between 1938 and 1957
			Template:Stn	Closed April 1, 2007
		Berwyn	Template:Stl (rush only)	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 302, 314
			Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 302, 311
			Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 302, 307
		Riverside	Template:Stl
		Brookfield	Template:Stl
			Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 331
	3		Template:Stl (rush only)	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 302, 331
		La Grange	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg Template:Rint Pace Bus: 302, 330, 331
			Template:Stl (rush only)
		Western Springs	Template:Stl
DuPage		Hinsdale	Template:Stl (rush only)
			Template:Stl
			Template:Stl (rush only)
		Clarendon Hills	Template:Stl
		Westmont	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 715
		Downers Grove	Template:Stl
	4		Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 834
			Template:Stl	Template:Rint Grove Commuter Shuttle: West Route
		Lisle	Template:Stl
		Naperville	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Amtrak: California Zephyr, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Southwest Chief Template:Rint Pace Bus: 530, 714, 722 Template:Rint Burlington Trailways: Chicago–Davenport
		Naperville/ Aurora	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 559 Template:Rint Greyhound Lines: Chicago–Davenport
		Eola	Eola	Closed to passengers prior to 1971, closed entirely later
Kane		Aurora
			Scraper Works	Closed 1974
			Aurora	Template:Rint Pace Bus: 524, 530, 533, 540, 802
			Aurora (CB&Q Depot)	Closed 1986

External links

• Metra BNSF Railway Template:Webarchive Service Schedule
• Thornapple River Rail Series BNSF's Metra Racetrack: A Railroad Superhighway