Milwaukee District North Line

Last updated
Metra MDN.svg Milwaukee District North Line
Metra City of Woodstock in Deerfield.jpg
EMD F40PH No. 120 leads an outbound train at Deerfield
Overview
Service type Commuter rail
StatusOperating
LocaleNorthern Chicago metropolitan area
PredecessorMilwaukee Road
Current operator(s) Metra
Ridership23,257 (Avg. Weekday 2014) [1]
Annual ridership2,786,215 (2023)
Website metra.com/train-lines/md-n OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Route
Termini Union Station
Fox Lake
Stops22
Distance travelled49.7 miles (80.0 km)
Average journey time97 minutes, stopping at all stops
Line(s) used C&M Subdivision, Fox Lake Subdivision
Technical
Track owner(s) Metra (dispatched by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway between Rondout and Pacific Junction)
Route map
Milwaukee District North Line Milwaukee District North Line highlighted in orange
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73.6 mi
118.4 km
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67.3 mi
108.3 km
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57.5 mi
92.5 km
Richmond
proposed
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55.8 mi
89.8 km
Solon Mills
proposed
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53.8 mi
86.6 km
Spring Grove
proposed
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49.5 mi
79.7 km
Fox Lake
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Fox Lake Coach Yard
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47.8 mi
76.9 km
Ingleside
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47.0 mi
75.6 km
Wilson Road
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46.0 mi
74 km
Long Lake
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44.0 mi
70.8 km
Round Lake
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41.0 mi
66 km
Grayslake
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39.2 mi
63.1 km
Prairie Crossing
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35.5 mi
57.1 km
Libertyville
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Chicago River (north branch)
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North Shore Bike Path
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32.3 mi
52 km
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Chicago River (north branch)
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28.4 mi
45.7 km
Lake Forest
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24.2 mi
38.9 km
Deerfield
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23.0 mi
37 km
Lake Cook Road
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Chicago River
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west fork)
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21.1 mi
34 km
Northbrook
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20.2 mi
32.5 km
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18.8 mi
30.3 km
North Glenview
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17.4 mi
28 km
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16.2 mi
26.1 km
Golf
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Chicago River (north branch)
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14.3 mi
23 km
Morton Grove
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11.6 mi
18.7 km
Edgebrook
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Chicago River (north branch)
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North Branch Trail
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10.2 mi
16.4 km
Forest Glen
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9.0 mi
14.5 km
Mayfair
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8.2 mi
13.2 km
Grayland
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6.4 mi
10.3 km
Healy
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Coach Yard
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2.9 mi
4.7 km
Western Avenue
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Key
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Milwaukee District North Line
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Former route alignment
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CTA lines
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Mileage source [2]

Wheelchair symbol.svg All stations are accessible except
Grayland, Mayfair, and Forest Glen.

The Milwaukee District North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois and its northern suburbs, running from Union Station to Fox Lake. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District North line are pale "Hiawatha Orange" in honor of the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha passenger trains. [3]

Contents

The line utilizes the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway's C&M Subdivision from Union Station to Rondout and Metra's Fox Lake Subdivision from Rondout to Fox Lake.

Operations

Metra F59PH #99 pushes an inbound train through Deerfield METX 99 on a MD-N train to Chicago.jpg
Metra F59PH #99 pushes an inbound train through Deerfield

Metra is the primary user of the C&M Subdivision, with commuter services operating between Union Station and Fox Lake. As of June 3, 2024, the public timetable shows 54 trains (27 in each direction) operating on weekdays, with 16 trains running to and from Fox Lake, five running to and from Grayslake, one running to and from Libertyville, four running to and from Lake Forest, and one running to and from Deerfield. Metra operates a reduced schedule on weekends, with nine trains operating between Union Station and Fox Lake, with an additional train on Saturday afternoons that short-turns at Lake Forest. This service is supplemented by Amtrak, whose Empire Builder , Hiawatha and Borealis inter-city trains operate on the line between Union Station and Rondout, and also stop at Glenview.

Metra began increased reverse commute service on the line on March 4, 2019. This service is part of a pilot-program funded under a two-year, public-private partnership between Metra and Lake County Partners. [4] The increased reverse commute service was temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, but was reinstated in December 2022. [5] On June 3, 2024, Metra updated the timetable and stopping patterns for trains to better reflect current conditions, along with adding an additional late evening departure in each direction, with an inbound 10:30 p.m. train from Fox Lake to Union Station, and a 12:32 a.m. outbound train from Union Station to Fox Lake. [6]

Metra has included the possibility of extending the Milwaukee District North Line along one of two routes in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the line could continue northwest via the Fox Lake branch to Richmond, with an additional stop in Spring Grove. Alternatively, the line could be extended north along the C&M Subdivision and continue from Rondout to Wadsworth, with additional stops in Green Oaks, Waukegan (separate from the Union Pacific North Line's station,) and Gurnee. [7]

History

Before 1982, this line was operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). When the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt, the Regional Transportation Authority took over operation of the line. By 1984, the line passed to RTA's newly created Commuter Rail Division, which rebranded as Metra in 1985 (that same year, the Soo Line Railroad acquired controlling interest in the Milwaukee Road and absorbed it the following year). Metra acquired the line from the Soo Line in 1987. The Soo Line then ran freight trains on the line via trackage rights until it was absorbed into the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1990. CP Railway merged with the Kansas City Southern Railway in April 2023 into the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, or CPKC Railway. Today this service is one of several Metra routes operated by Metra crews, but trains are dispatched under contract by the CPKC, which continues to hold trackage rights. [8]

The Milwaukee District North Line route and Metra's track ownership diverge from the Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis mainline at Rondout, Illinois and proceeds northwesterly toward Fox Lake. This secondary route, owned by Metra, was known as the Janesville Subdivision (J-Sub) of the Milwaukee Road. The mainline north of Rondout is owned by the CPKC [9] through its American subsidiary Soo Line Railroad and sees Amtrak and freight traffic only. Metra service and track ownership end at Fox Lake. The tracks beyond Fox Lake are owned by the State of Wisconsin and operated for freight service by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad. Commuter service beyond Fox Lake, abolished in 1982, served the communities of Spring Grove, Solon Mills, Zenda, and Walworth. [10]

Until 1984, there was a stop in Rondout. The station building itself was demolished in the mid-1960s. The station was located at Rondout Junction, where the line crosses the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway's tracks at a diamond junction. [11] Before 1982, service ran as far north as Walworth, Wisconsin.

Metra has conducted studies on extending the Milwaukee District North Line to Richmond, Illinois, and constructing a second branch, running along the CPKC main line from Rondout north to Wadsworth. However, there are not any plans to construct the extension. [12]

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 7,237,913 to 6,549,143, an overall decline of 9.5%. [13] [14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,556,783 passengers in 2020 and to 1,094,292 in 2021. Despite this overall annual decline, from April to December 2021, ridership was higher than in the same period in 2020. [15] [16]

1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Stations

StateCountyZoneLocationStationConnections and notes
WI Walworth   Walworth WalworthClosed October 1, 1982
Zenda ZendaClosed October 1, 1982
IL McHenry Richmond RichmondProposed new stop[ citation needed ]
Solon Mills Solon MillsClosed October 1, 1982
Spring Grove Spring GroveClosed October 1, 1982
Lake 4 Fox Lake Fox Lake Bus-logo.svg Pace: 570, 806
Ingleside Ingleside DodgerBlue flag waving.svg Bus-logo.svg Pace: 570
Long Lake Wilson Road Closed 1984 [17]
Long Lake
Round Lake Round Lake Bus-logo.svg Pace: 570
Grayslake Grayslake Bus-logo.svg Pace: 570
Libertyville Prairie Crossing Metramlogo.svg Metra:   North Central Service
Libertyville Bus-logo.svg Pace: 574
  Rondout Rondout Closed 1984 [17]
4 Lake Forest Lake Forest
Deerfield Deerfield Bus-logo.svg Pace: 471
Cook 3 Lake Cook Road Bus-logo.svg Pace: 626
Northbrook Northbrook Bus-logo.svg Pace: 422
Techny TechnyClosed 1971
3 Glenview North Glenview Bus-logo.svg Pace: 423
Glenview BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak: Borealis , Empire Builder , Hiawatha
Bus-logo.svg Pace: 210, 422, 423
Golf Golf Bus-logo.svg Pace: 208, 210
2 Morton Grove Morton Grove Bus-logo.svg Pace: 210, 250
Chicago Edgebrook Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 84, 85A
Bus-logo.svg Pace: 225, 226
Forest Glen Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 92
Mayfair Chicago Transit Authority Logo.svg Chicago "L": Blue (at Montrose)
Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 54, 54A, 78
Grayland Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 56, 152
Healy Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 53, 74
Western Avenue Metramlogo.svg Metra:   Milwaukee District West,   North Central Service
Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 49, X49, 65
1 Chicago Union Station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr , Cardinal , City of New Orleans , Empire Builder , Floridian , Lake Shore Limited , Southwest Chief , Texas Eagle
BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water , Borealis , Hiawatha , Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service , Pere Marquette , Wolverine
Metramlogo.svg Metra:   BNSF,   Heritage Corridor,   Milwaukee District West,   North Central Service,   SouthWest Service
Chicago Transit Authority Logo.svg Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy)
Bus-logo.svg CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192
Bus-logo.svg Pace: 755
BSicon BUS2.svg Amtrak Thruway: Chicago–Madison and Chicago–Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago–Louisville (Greyhound)

References

  1. "Milwaukee District North Line Weekday Ridership". Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics (RTAMS). Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. 2020 State of the System Report (p. 32)
  3. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009.
  4. "Metra to begin reverse-commute service from Chicago to Lake County". Progressive Railroading. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  5. "Metra to upgrade service on 4 lines Dec. 12" . Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  6. "Schedule changes coming June 3 to Milwaukee District North line | Metra". metra.com. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  7. "Systemwide Cost Benefit Analysis of Major Capital Improvements" (PDF). Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  8. s_c_kos (2008-06-17), CP 9633 East at Libertyville, Ill. , retrieved 2022-01-04
  9. Metra Railfan Tips - Milwaukee District/North Line
  10. Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Suburban Service; North Timetable (November 14, 1971)
  11. Chicago's Lost Stations - Milwaukee Road Chicago-Fox Lake
  12. "Wadsworth Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Metra . Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  13. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  14. "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  15. Metra. "2021 Annual Ridership Report" (PDF).
  16. "RTAMS | Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics". rtams.org. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
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