Crystal Lake is one of two stations on
Metra
Metra is the primary 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 243 train station, stati ...
's
Union Pacific Northwest Line
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 ...
located in
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Crystal Lake is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Named after a lake southwest of the city's downtown, Crystal Lake is northwest of Chicago. The population was 40,269 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Crystal L ...
. The station is two stops away from the line's terminus at , and most of the trains on the Northwest Line only run as far as Crystal Lake. A large
coach yard
A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or ...
is adjacent to the station and has additional storage tracks to store Metra trains overnight, and on holidays and weekends. A Union Pacific maintenance facility and office, some storage tracks for local freight trains and
maintenance of way
Maintenance of way (commonly abbreviated to MOW, also known as "Permanent Way Maintenance" or "PWM" in Britain) refers to the maintenance, construction, and improvement of rail infrastructure, including tracks, ballast, grade, and lineside infras ...
equipment as well as a junction are also located just southeast of here. The branch line to splits off at this junction. The station is away from
Ogilvie Transportation Center
The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (), on the site of the former Chicago and North Western Terminal, is a commuter rail train station, terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. For the last century, this site has served as the primary t ...
.
Parking is available at the station. , Crystal Lake is the 36th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 1,138 weekday boardings.
As of May 30, 2023, Crystal Lake is served by 52 trains (27 inbound, 25 outbound) on weekdays, by 30 trains (15 in each direction) on Saturdays, and by 20 trains (nine inbound, all 11 outbound) on Sundays.
On weekdays, 13 inbound trains originate from Crystal Lake and 12 trains terminate here, with five inbound trains originating and five outbound trains terminating here on Saturdays, and two inbound trains originating and three outbound trains terminating here on Sundays.
Pace
Pace or paces may refer to:
Business
*Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US
*Pace Airlines, an American charter airline
* Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...
connections
*
550 Elgin Transportation Center/Crystal Lake
*
806 Crystal Lake/Fox Lake
*
808 Crystal Lake/Harvard
References
External links
Crystal Lake stationon Metra.com
Station from Main Street from Google Maps Street View
Metra stations in Illinois
Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1915
Railway stations in McHenry County, Illinois
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