Union Pacific Northwest Line

Template:Short description Template:Infobox rail service 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.

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 Template:Stl, three from Template:Stl, 13 from Template:Stl, four from Template:Stl, one from Template:Stl, and four from Template:Stl. 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 Template:Stl. 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 Template:Stl station or on the McHenry branch on weekends or holidays. All other stations are open daily.

The main line is triple-tracked from Template:Stl 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.

All stations along the triple-tracked portion of the line have a side platform serving the inbound track and an island platform serving the express and outbound tracks, the only exception being Template:Stl, which only has two side platforms and does not serve trains running through the express track.

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.

Beginning in 2023, the Union Pacific Railroad announced that commuter operations on all three of the Union Pacific lines would be transferred to Metra; the Union Pacific would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way. The transfer was initially expected to occur by Q1 2024; however, it was delayed by a year to May 16, 2025.

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.

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	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 808
			Hartland	Template:Stl	Closed 1984
			Woodstock	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 807, 808
			Ridgefield	Ridgefield	Closed, proposed new stop
		4	Crystal Lake	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 550, 806, 808
				McHenry branch begins/ends
				Template:Stl
			Cary	Template:Stl
			Fox River Grove	Template:Stl	Formerly named Chicago Highlands
	Cook		Barrington	Template:Stl
			Palatine	Template:Stl
		3	Arlington Heights	Template:Stl
				Template:Stl
			Mount Prospect	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 234
			Des Plaines	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 208, 221, 234
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234, 250 Template:Rint Pace Pulse: 101 Dempster Line
		2	Park Ridge	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 209, 226, 240
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 209, 241, 290 Template:Rint CTA Bus: 68
			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
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint CTA Bus: 68
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint CTA Bus: 68
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint CTA Bus: 68
				Jefferson Park	Template:Rint Chicago "L": Template:Rcb Template:Rint CTA Bus: 56, 68, 81, 81W, 85, 85A, 88, 91, 92 Template:Rint Pace: 225, 226, 270 Template:Rint Pace Pulse: 100 Milwaukee Line
				Mayfair	Closed December 1, 1958
				Kostner	Closed December 1, 1958
				Template:Stl	Template:Rint Chicago "L": Template:Rcb (at Template:Cta) Template:Rint CTA Bus: 53, N53, 54A, 80
				Parkview	Closed December 1, 1958
				Avondale	Closed December 1, 1958
				Maplewood	Closed December 1, 1958
		2		Template:Stl	Template:Rint Metra: Template:Rcb Template:Rint CTA Bus: 9, X9, 73
		1		Ogilvie Transportation Center	Template:Rint Metra: Template:Rcb, Template:Rcb Template:Rint Chicago "L": Template:Rcb Template:Rcb (at Template:Cta) Template:Rint CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192

McHenry branch

The branch, which formerly had service north to Williams Bay, branches off from the main line north of Template:Stn.

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	Template:Stl	Template:Rint Pace: 806, 807
			Prairie Grove	Prairie Grove	Proposed new stop

External links

• Metra Union Pacific/Northwest Template:Webarchive service schedule