Milwaukee District / West Line

The Milwaukee District / West Line (MD-W) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and the western suburbs. Metra does not refer to any of its lines by a particular color, but the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District/West line are dark "Arrow Yellow," honoring the Milwaukee Road's Arrow passenger train.[2]. Trains are dispatched from CP's American headquarters in Minneapolis.

Milwaukee District / West Line
A Milwaukee District/West train at Roselle in 2009.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Termini	Union Station Elgin/Big Timber Road
Stations	22
Daily ridership	22,100 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Operation
Owner	Metra (Dispatched by CP Rail)
Operator(s)	Metra, Canadian Pacific Railway
Technical
Line length	40 mi (64 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map 39.8 mi 64.1 km Big Timber Road 36.6 mi 58.9 km Elgin 36.0 mi 57.9 km National Street Fox River Spaulding closed 30.1 mi 48.4 km Bartlett 28.4 mi 45.7 km Hanover Park 26.5 mi 42.6 km Schaumburg 23.9 mi 38.5 km Roselle 23.0 mi 37 km Medinah 21.0 mi 33.8 km Itasca Salt Creek 19.1 mi 30.7 km Wood Dale 17.2 mi 27.7 km Bensenville 14.0 mi 22.5 km Mannheim 13.2 mi 21.2 km Franklin Park NCS to Antioch Des Plaines River 11.4 mi 18.3 km River Grove 10.2 mi 16.4 km Elmwood Park 9.5 mi 15.3 km Mont Clare 9.1 mi 14.6 km Mars 8.6 mi 13.8 km Galewood 7.7 mi 12.4 km Hanson Park 7.0 mi 11.3 km Cragin closed 6.5 mi 10.5 km Grand/Cicero 5.9 mi 9.5 km Hermosa closed MD-N to Fox Lake Amtrak to Milwaukee Coach Yard 2.9 mi 4.7 km Western Avenue 2.9 mi 4.7 km UP-W to Elburn Chicago "L" Logan Square branch UP-N to Kenosha UP-NW to Harvard Green Pink Ogilvie 0 mi Union Station BNSF to Aurora HC to Joliet SWS to Manhattan

It runs from Union Station in downtown Chicago through the western suburbs to Elgin, Illinois. In April 2013 the public timetable shows 29 trains leaving Chicago each weekday, of which 22 run to Big Timber Road. Of the 7 trains that do not run through to Big Timber Road, 3 terminate at Elgin, 2 at Franklin Park, 1 at Bartlett, and 1 at National Street. All weekend trains terminate at Elgin; Big Timber Road does not have weekend service.

A new station at Grand Avenue and Cicero Avenue opened on December 11, 2006. It replaced stations in the Hermosa and Cragin neighborhoods.[3]

Metra has long range plans to eventually extend the line to Huntley and Marengo, Illinois, and, in the long term, out to Rockford.[4][5] Another proposal recommends extending the line to Pingree Grove and Hampshire, Illinois on the Milwaukee Road's own tracks.

Amtrak announced that it would revive its Black Hawk (Amtrak train) to operate the line between Chicago and Dubuque, however, it was put on hold by the state of Illinois in 2015.

The line runs on the Canadian Pacific Railway Elgin Subdivision (Ex-Milwaukee Road line to Omaha).

Ridership

Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 6.9 million to 6.1 million, an overall decline of 11.5%.[6]

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Rolling stock

The MD-W line's locomotive fleet consists of mainly MPI MP36PH-3S diesel-electric locomotives, with some EMD F40PH locomotives. The line also operates ex-GO Transit EMD F59PH locomotives. The fleet is pooled with the fleets for the North Central Service and the Milwaukee District/North Line. As of 2016, three of these locomotives are in operation.

Coaches, or passenger railcars, consist mostly of Nippon Sharyo railcars built in the early 2000s. Cab cars are Nippon Sharyo built. Budd-built railcars also operate on the line, but the cab cars built by Budd have not been in use since the delivery of the newer railcars.

Stations

Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
H	Elgin	Big Timber Road (weekdays only)
		Elgin	Pace: 541, 542, 543, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 552, 554, 603, 801
		National Street	Pace: 546, 801
G	Elgin/Bartlett	Spaulding	Closed 1971
F	Bartlett	Bartlett
	Hanover Park	Hanover Park	Pace: 554 Formerly named Ontarioville
	Schaumburg	Schaumburg	Pace: 602
E	Roselle	Roselle	Pace: 608
	Medinah	Medinah
	Itasca	Itasca	Pace: 616
D	Wood Dale	Wood Dale
	Bensenville	Bensenville	Pace: 319, 332
C	Franklin Park	Mannheim (rush hours only)	Pace: 319, 330
		Franklin Park	Pace: 303, 319
	River Grove	River Grove	Metra: North Central Service Pace: 307, 319, 331
	Elmwood Park	Elmwood Park	Pace: 307, 319
B	Chicago	Mont Clare	CTA Bus: 65, 74
		Mars (rush hours only)
		Galewood	CTA Bus: 86
		Hanson Park (rush hours only)	CTA Bus: 65, 85
		Cragin	Closed in 2006, replaced by Grand/Cicero
		Grand/Cicero (rush hours only)	CTA Bus: 54, 65, 73
		Hermosa	Closed in 2006, replaced by Grand/Cicero
A		Western Avenue	Metra: Milwaukee District / North Line, North Central Service CTA Bus: 49, X49, 65
		Union Station	Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Hiawatha Service, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine Metra: BNSF Railway, Milwaukee District / North Line, North Central Service, Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service Chicago "L": Blue Line (at Clinton), Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple lines (at Quincy) CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Pace: 755 Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (Greyhound)

References

1. "Ridership Reports - System Facts". Metra. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
2. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.
3. Metra (2006-12-11). "Metra - Station and Parking Construction Advisories". Archived from the original on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
4. "Marengo Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
5. "NORTHERN ILLINOIS COMMUTER RAIL INITIATIVE COMMUTER RAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
6. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Milwaukee District / West Line

KML is from Wikidata

• Metra Milwaukee District/West service schedule

Media related to Metra Milwaukee District/West Line at Wikimedia Commons