The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) 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 co ...

line operated by

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

Chicago, Illinois (''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. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific West line are "

Kate Shelley Catherine Carroll "Kate" Shelley (December 12, 1863 – January 21, 1912) was a midwestern United States railroad heroine and the first woman in the United States to have a bridge named after her, the Kate Shelley High Bridge. She was also one of ...

Rose" pink, honoring an Iowa woman who saved a

Chicago & North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

train from disaster in 1881. Green and yellow were already selected for the

Union Pacific North Line The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling stoc ...

and

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 timeta ...

, respectively, so pink was chosen for this line. Therefore, the UP-W is the only Metra line that uses a color to honor a person instead of a

fallen flag Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

railroad. Until the late 1940s the line had a branch to

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linco ...

. It diverged from the main line at West Chicago and had stations at Elgin, Marengo, Belvidere, Rockford, Freeport, and other communities. The line was once known as the Chicago & Northwestern/West Line until UP took over the C&NW in 1995. All Metra trains on this line terminated at until 2006, when the line was extended to its present terminus in . The line runs as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's Geneva Subdivision (ex-

C&NW The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

line to

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Cl ...

). The line runs from the

Ogilvie Transportation Center The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (; formerly Chicago and North Western Terminal) is a commuter rail terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is the terminus for the three commuter rail lines of Metra's Union Pacific District to Chic ...

in downtown Chicago through the western suburbs to

Elburn Elburn is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,602 as of the 2010 census, up from 2,756 at the 2000 census. It is located at the intersection of Illinois Route 38 and Route 47. Elburn is a town situated w ...

. This is the oldest railway route built from Chicago, the route of the

Galena and Chicago Union Railroad The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built ou ...

along Kinzie Street. As of February 16, 2024, Metra operates 58 trains (29 in each direction) on the Union Pacific West Line on weekdays. Of these, 23 inbound trains originate from Elburn, two from , three from , and one from . Two outbound trains terminate at Geneva, three at La Fox, and the remaining 24 terminate at Elburn. On weekends, all trains run the full route to Elburn, with Metra operating 10 roundtrip trains on Saturday and nine on Sundays and holidays. Union Pacific is building a third track from West Chicago through all of Geneva. The project started in September 2022 and is expected to be finished in July 2024. The improvements are designed to ensure smoother traffic flow and reduce conflicts between commuter and freight trains. By the first quarter of 2024, the Union Pacific Railroad is expected to transfer operations of the three Union Pacific lines to Metra. The Union Pacific will continue to own and maintain the right-of-way.

Ridership

Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 8,423,188 to 7,883,185, an overall decline of 6.4%. 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 identified ...

, ridership dropped to 1,945,886 passengers in 2020 and to 1,486,536 passengers in 2021.

Station stops

Freeport Branch

This branch line ran from West Chicago to

. Service was discontinued in the late 1940s. Metra is planning to revive service from Big Timber Road to Rockford on this line, stopping in Huntley and Belvidere, but there are no plans to restore passenger service south of Elgin.

References

External links

Metra Union Pacific/West
service schedule {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Pacific West Line Metra lines Chicago and North Western Railway Geneva, Illinois Transportation in Kane County, Illinois West Chicago, Illinois Winfield, Illinois Wheaton, Illinois Glen Ellyn, Illinois Lombard, Illinois Villa Park, Illinois Elmhurst, Illinois Transportation in DuPage County, Illinois Melrose Park, Illinois Maywood, Illinois River Forest, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois