BNSF Railway (Metra)

The BNSF Railway Line is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the eponymous freight railroad in Chicago and its western suburbs. In 2010, the BNSF Railway Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of the 11 Metra lines.[2] While Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, the BNSF line's color on Metra timetables is "Cascade Green," a nod to the paint of the Burlington Northern Railroad.[3] In July 2017, the public timetable (published October 9, 2016)[4] showed 47 trains leaving Chicago each weekday, of which 31 run to Aurora. Of the 16 trains that do not reach Aurora, 5 terminate at Route 59, 1 at Naperville, 1 at Downers Grove-Main Street, 5 at Downers Grove-Fairview Avenue, 3 at Westmont, and 1 at Brookfield. The public timetable (published October 9, 2016)[4] also showed 47 trains arriving in Chicago each weekday, of which 29 start in Aurora. Of the 18 trains that do not start in Aurora, 6 start at Lisle, 1 at Downers Grove-Main Street, 7 at Downers Grove-Fairview Avenue, 1 at Highlands, and 3 at Brookfield.

This article is about a commuter rail line. For the freight railroad company that owns and operates the line, see BNSF Railway.

BNSF Railway Line
An inbound Metra train arrives in Naperville.
Overview
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Metra
Termini	Union Station Aurora
Stations	26
Daily ridership	63,000 (average weekday 2018)[1]
Operation
Owner	BNSF Railway (Leased to Metra)
Operator(s)	BNSF Railway Metra
Technical
Line length	37.5 miles (60.4 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map NCS to Antioch MD-W to Big Timber Road MD-N to Fox Lake 0.0 Union Station Blue HC to Joliet SWS to Manhattan 1.8 Halsted Street Pink to Loop 3.7 Western Avenue Pink to 54th/Cermak 7.0 Cicero Morton Park closed 8.5 Clyde closed IC West Line 9.0 La Vergne 9.6 Berwyn 10.0 Harlem Avenue 11.0 Riverside Des Plaines River 11.7 Hollywood Salt Creek 12.3 Brookfield 13.0 Congress Park 13.7 La Grange 14.1 Stone Avenue 15.4 Western Springs 16.3 Highlands 16.8 Hinsdale 17.8 West Hinsdale 18.2 Clarendon Hills 19.4 Westmont 20.3 Fairview Avenue 21.1 Downers Grove Main Street 22.9 Belmont Saint Joseph Creek 24.4 Lisle DuPage River (East Branch) 28.4 Naperville DuPage River (West Branch) 31.6 Route 59 33.4 Eola closed 38.4 Aurora Amtrak to Emeryville, Quincy, & Los Angeles

The east end is Union Station in downtown Chicago. The line traverses Chicago and its western and far western suburbs to Aurora. BNSF Railway operates it 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 controls the right-of-way on the line and handles dispatching from corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The June 2007 timetable shows a 70 mph maximum allowed speed for passenger trains.

Metra has studied the feasibility of extending the line beyond Aurora, possibly as far as Sandwich, Illinois.

History

BNSF Railway Line is in Cascade Green

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 in 1970. Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1995 to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. It later changed its name to the abbreviation, BNSF.

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 commuter rail under a service board that became Metra.

With fast and frequent Amtrak and Metra passenger trains, and BNSF freight trains, the three-track line is a favorite of rail fans, who sometimes call it the "race track."[5]

The Clyde 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.[6]

Kendall County extension

There have been proposals to extend service west into Kendall County, which as of 2019 is outside the RTA's service area. Potential new stations would be in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano (which already has an Amtrak station) and Sandwich.[7][8]

Ridership

Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 16.6 million to 15.8 million, an overall decline of 5%.[9]

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Rolling stock

The BNSF Railway's locomotive fleet consists mainly of the EMD F40PHM-2, with some EMD F40PH locomotives. Until 2012, MPI MP36PH-3S locomotives also operated on the line, however, they were all reassigned to the Milwaukee lines, the North Central Service and the Rock Island District due to operating difficulties. Rail cars include coaches from Budd, Morrison-Knudsen/Amerail, and Nippon Sharyo.

Stations

Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
A	Chicago	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: Milwaukee District / North Line, Milwaukee District / West 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)
		Halsted Street (rush hours only)	CTA Bus: 8, 18, N62
		Western Avenue	Chicago "L": Pink Line (at Western) CTA Bus: 18, 49, X49
B	Cicero	Cicero	CTA Bus: 35, 54, 54B, 60
		Morton Park	Closed between 1938 and 1957
		Clyde	Closed April 1, 2007
	Berwyn	La Vergne (rush hours only)	Pace: 302, 314
		Berwyn	Pace: 302, 311
		Harlem Avenue	Pace: 302, 307
C	Riverside	Riverside
	Brookfield	Hollywood	Pace: 304, 331
		Brookfield	Pace: 331
		Congress Park (rush hours only)	Pace: 302, 331
	La Grange	La Grange Road	Amtrak: Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg Pace: 302, 330, 331
		Stone Avenue
D	Western Springs	Western Springs	Pace: 669
	Hinsdale	Highlands (rush hours only)
		Hinsdale	Pace: 668 Burr Ridge-Hinsdale
		West Hinsdale (rush hours only)
	Clarendon Hills	Clarendon Hills	Pace: 663, 664
	Westmont	Westmont	Pace: 662, 665, 715
E	Downers Grove	Fairview Avenue
		Downers Grove Main Street	Pace: 461, 462, 463, 834
		Belmont	Pace: 821 Grove Commuter Shuttle: West Route
	Lisle	Lisle	Pace: 820, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829
F	Naperville	Naperville	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Southwest Chief Pace: 530, 676, 677, 678, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 714, and 722 Burlington Trailways: Chicago–Davenport
G	Aurora	Route 59	Pace: 534, 559, 672, 673, 675 Greyhound Lines: Chicago–Davenport
	Eola	Eola	Closed to passengers prior to 1971, closed entirely later
H	Aurora	Aurora Transportation Center	Pace: 524, 530, 533, 540, and 802

References

1. "Operations and Ridership Data". Retrieved December 14, 2019.
2. "Ridership Reports -System Facts". Metra. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
3. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
4. "BNSF Railway Full Timetable" (PDF). Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
5. Mann, Leslie (March 23, 2011). "When that lonesome whistle blows, rail fans know where to line up". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
6. Ruzich, Joseph (February 21, 2007). "Cicero's Metra stop to receive makeover". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
7. "A step closer on local Metra station". Oswego Ledger-Sentinel. March 12, 2009. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
8. Girardi, Linda (November 26, 2019). "Possible Metra extension into Kendall County focus of upcoming meetings". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
9. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved May 12, 2019.

External links

Template:Attached KML/BNSF Railway (Metra)

KML is from Wikidata

• Metra BNSF Railway service schedule