The BNSF Line (also known informally as the "Racetrack") is a

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

line operated by the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and its western

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of the 11

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 The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadi ...

. The public timetable (published March 28, 2021) shows 91 trains (44 inbound, 47 outbound) on the BNSF Line on weekdays. Of these, 32 inbound trains originate from , one from , nine from , and two from . Five outbound trains terminate at Brookfield, five at Fairview Avenue, three at , and 34 at Aurora. Bike cars are available on weekday trains #1212 (leaves 5:29 A.M.,) #1252 (leaves 9:04 A.M.,) and #1284 (leaves 5:04 P.M.) inbound from Aurora, and trains #1217 (leaves 7:33 A.M.,) #1239 (leaves 3:10 P.M.,) and #1283 (leaves 6:50 P.M.) outbound to Aurora. Metra operates 30 trains (15 in each direction) on the BNSF Line on Saturdays, and 20 trains (10 in each direction) on Sundays. All weekend trains originate and terminate at Aurora. Bike cars are available on weekend trains #2002 (leaves 6:20 A.M.) and #2012 (leaves 10:20 A.M.) inbound from Aurora, and trains #2003 (leaves 8:40 A.M.) and #2013 (leaves 2:40 P.M.) outbound to Aurora. The east end is

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...

in downtown Chicago. The line traverses Chicago and its western and far western suburbs to

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, a ...

. 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 Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

. Metra imposes a 70 mph maximum allowed speed for passenger trains. Metra has studied the feasibility of extending the line beyond Aurora. One proposal considered extending the line possibly as far as

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

, with additional stations (from east to west) in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, and Plano. Another proposal considered extending the line to Big Rock, with additional stations at Orchard Road in Aurora, and in Sugar Grove. Metra has also considered reopening an infill station between Aurora and stations at Eola Road.

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 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. The CB&Q operated the commuter service until the railroad merged into the

in 1970. Burlington Northern merged with the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

and Metra passenger trains, and BNSF freight trains, the three-track line is a favorite of

rail fan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...

s, who sometimes call it the "BNSF Racetrack" informally. It is one of the busiest rail lines in the United States, with 91 passenger trains (not including Amtrak services) traveling along it per weekday as of March 28, 2022. The station at South Austin Boulevard and West 29th Street in

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

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 in Montgomery, Oswego,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, Yorkville, Plano, and

Sandwich, Illinois Sandwich is a city in DeKalb and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 7,421 at the 2010 census and 7,221 at the 2020 census. History The town's history is tied to politician "Long John" Wentworth and his efforts ...

. The Plano station would be located over 1 mile west of the Plano CB&Q Depot currently used by

'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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, ridership dropped to 3,659,617 passengers in 2020.

Rolling stock

The BNSF Line's locomotive fleet consists mainly of the EMD F40PH-3/F40PHM-3. 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. Passenger cars include coaches from Pullman (Bike Car), Budd, Morrison-Knudsen/ Amerail, and

Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest abbreviation is Nissha "日車". It was a listed company on Nikkei 225 until 2 ...

Stations

References

External links

Metra BNSF Railway
service schedule {{DEFAULTSORT:Bnsf Railway Line Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Chicago metropolitan area Metra lines BNSF Railway