Metra Electric District

The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fifth busiest of Metra's 11 lines, after the BNSF, UP-NW, UP-N, and UP-W Lines with nearly 7.7 million annual riders.^[3] While Metra does not explicitly refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Metra Electric District are printed in bright "Panama orange" to reflect the line's origins with the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) and its Panama Limited passenger train.^[4] Apart from the spots where its tracks run parallel to other main lines, it is the only Metra line running entirely on dedicated passenger tracks, with no freight trains operating anywhere on the actual route itself (the only exceptions perhaps being occasional work or repair trains). The line is the only one in the Metra system with more than one station in Downtown Chicago, the only line with no stations in fare zone 4, and also has the highest number of stations (49) of any Metra line.

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Metra Electric District
Metra Electric trains at University Park
Overview
Owner	Metra
Locale	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Termini	Millennium Station University Park, South Chicago (93rd Street), Blue Island
Stations	49 (total) (1 closed) 19 (to 93rd St) 29 (to Blue Island) 34 (2 under reconstruction) (to University Park)
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Services	3
Operator(s)	Metra (Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Rail Corporation)
Daily ridership	34,000 (Avg. Weekday 2014)[1]
Technical
Line length	31.5 miles (50.7 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 1,500 V DC
Operating speed	65 miles per hour (105 km/h) (top)
Route map Metra Electric District highlighted in orange Show interactive map ‡ = temporarily closed for reconstruction Legend 0 mi Millennium Station 0.8 mi 1.3 km Van Buren Street 1.4 mi 2.3 km Museum Campus/11th Street Central Station Amtrak to Union Station IC West line to Addison 18th Street Yard 2.2 mi 3.5 km 18th Street 2.7 mi 4.3 km McCormick Place I-55 (End) 3.2 mi 5.1 km 27th Street 31st Street 35th Street 39th Street (Oakland) Chicago "L" Kenwood branch 43rd Street 5.9 mi 9.5 km 47th Street (Kenwood) 50th Street 6.5 mi 10.5 km 51st–53rd Street (Hyde Park) 7.0 mi 11.3 km 55th–56th–57th Street 7.4 mi 11.9 km 59th Street/University of Chicago Chicago "L" Jackson Park branch 7.9 mi 12.7 km 63rd Street 67th Street South Chicago branch East 71st Street 9.1 mi 14.6 km Stony Island 9.7 mi 15.6 km Bryn Mawr South Exchange Avenue 10.3 mi 16.6 km South Shore 10.9 mi 17.5 km Windsor Park 11.5 mi 18.5 km Cheltenham 12.0 mi 19.3 km 83rd Street 12.5 mi 20.1 km 87th Street 91st Street (South Chicago) 13.2 mi 21.2 km South Chicago (93rd Street) 70th Street 72nd Street 9.3 mi 15 km 75th Street (Grand Crossing) Amtrak to Union Station Amtrak to Michigan, Miami, New York, and Boston I-90 / Chicago Skyway 10.0 mi 16.1 km 79th Street (Chatham) 10.4 mi 16.7 km 83rd Street (Avalon Park) 10.9 mi 17.5 km ‡ 87th Street (Woodruff) 11.4 mi 18.3 km 91st Street (Chesterfield) Belt Railway of Chicago Norfolk Southern Railway 12.0 mi 19.3 km 95th Street/CSU I-94 13.0 mi 20.9 km ‡ 103rd Street (Rosemoor) 13.5 mi 21.7 km 107th Street 14.0 mi 22.5 km 111th Street (Pullman) 14.5 mi 23.3 km Kensington/115th Street South Shore Line to South Bend Airport Red (planned) to Howard to 130th Amtrak to New York Blue Island branch 15.6 mi 25.1 km State Street 16.0 mi 25.7 km Stewart Ridge 16.7 mi 26.9 km West Pullman 17.0 mi 27.4 km Racine Avenue 17.9 mi 28.8 km Ashland/Calumet Park I-57 18.4 mi 29.6 km Burr Oak RI to LaSalle Street 18.9 mi 30.4 km Blue Island RI Blue Island–Vermont Street RI to Joliet Kensington Yard 130th Street (Wildwood) Calumet River CSX Transportation 17.3 mi 27.8 km Riverdale Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad 18.2 mi 29.3 km Ivanhoe Little Calumet River 19.0 mi 30.6 km 147th Street (Sibley Boulevard) CSX Transportation 20.0 mi 32.2 km Harvey Washington Park Race Track 22.3 mi 35.9 km Hazel Crest I-80 / I-294 22.8 mi 36.7 km Calumet 23.5 mi 37.8 km Homewood 24.9 mi 40.1 km Flossmoor 26.6 mi 42.8 km Olympia Fields 27.6 mi 44.4 km 211th Street (Lincoln Highway) Old Plank Road Trail 28.2 mi 45.4 km Matteson EJ&E Railway Richton Park Yard 29.3 mi 47.2 km Richton Park 31.5 mi 50.7 km University Park Amtrak to Carbondale and New Orleans Key Metra Electric District Former route alignment Metra Rock Island District South Shore Line Other freight lines Mileage source[2] This diagram: view talk edit Show BSicon diagram map

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It is the only Metra line powered by overhead lines, the only line with high-level platforms and level boarding, and the only line with three service branches. Trains operate on 1,500 V DC. The main line north of Kensington/115th Street is shared with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD)'s South Shore Line, an electric interurban line through northern Indiana to South Bend. Per a longstanding non-compete agreement, South Shore trains stopping at stations shared with the Electric District only pick up passengers heading eastbound (outbound from Chicago) and only discharge passengers heading westbound (inbound to the city).

The Electric District has more frequent service than any other Metra line. As of August 2023^[update], Metra operates 131 trains (64 inbound and 67 outbound) on the line on weekdays. On the main line, 27 inbound trains originate from University Park, four from Homewood, and three from Kensington/115th Street, while three outbound trains terminate at Kensington/115th Street, four at Homewood, and the remaining 26 at University Park. There are also 20 inbound and 22 outbound trains on the South Chicago (93rd Street) branch, as well as ten inbound and 12 outbound trains on the Blue Island branch (one outbound train to Blue Island, No. 245, originates from Kensington/115th Street, not Millennium Station).

On Saturdays, Metra operates 41 roundtrip trains on the line, including 21 on the main line to University Park, 16 trains on the South Chicago branch, and four on the Blue Island branch.

On Sunday and holidays, Metra operates 22 trains on the line, with 12 roundtrips operating on the main line to University Park and 10 trains operating on the South Chicago branch. Service on the Blue Island branch is suspended during these times.

The trunk stretch of the line shared between all branches from Millennium Station to 63rd Street is the most heavily traveled section on the entire Metra system. At 55th-56th-57th Street, passengers may transfer between main line and South Chicago/Blue Island branch services, as well as to South Shore Line service to Indiana.

The Metra Electric District has the best on-time performance of all Metra lines, averaging only one late train a month in 2014.^[5]

Trains operate at a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h); as of February 2024, work is underway to increase the maximum speed to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h), with an increase to 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) in certain sections potentially following.^[6]

The proposed Gold Line, derived from the earlier and more extensive Gray Line plan^[11] would have the Electric District operate more like a rapid transit line, by running trains more frequently (every ten minutes between 6am and midnight) with reduced-fare transfers to CTA buses and trains. Unlike the current service, which bypasses many stations to reach suburban stations more quickly, it would make all stops within the city. It would run from Millennium Station to South Chicago (93rd Street) at an estimated cost at $160 million.^[12] Since the Gold Line was proposed, the idea of providing rapid transit service along Chicago's south lakefront has gained considerable support from neighborhoods along its route. Despite its popular support, officials from CTA and Metra have largely dismissed the plan, focusing on other expansion projects. In response to this and other concerns, in 2009 the RTA and the Chicago Department of Transportation authorized $450,000 for a "South Lakefront Study" that is anticipated to yield either one or two new transit projects that are eligible for Federal transit funding.^[13]

An extension to Peotone, Illinois or the Proposed Chicago south suburban airport with a stop in Monee has been considered since the SouthWest Service was extended to Manhattan.^[14][15][16]

On May 24, 2017, Metra announced new schedule proposals for the line. The new schedule will provide rapid service for the Hyde Park stations every 20 minutes on weekdays until 7 p.m. and every half-hour on Saturdays. The proposed schedule also calls for boosting service on the main line from 63rd Street to Kensington, from every two hours to every hour. However, the proposed schedule also calls for the elimination of lightly used Blue Island trains, including all Saturday service.^[17]

After reviewing community feedback, Metra decided to keep four Saturday Blue Island trains and one late night trip to South Chicago. The new service went into effect September 11, 2017.^[18]

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined 23% from 9.4 million to 7.3 million passengers.^[19][20] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,019,403 passengers in 2020 and to 1,836,723 in 2021.

The Metra Electric District uses second-generation bi-level Highliner multiple unit cars built by Nippon Sharyo. These will be supplemented by additional EMUs built at Nippon Sharyo's new Rochelle, Illinois facility opened in 2012.^[21] In 2005, these began to replace the original Highliner fleet built by St. Louis Car Company and Bombardier in the 1970s.

On February 12, 2016, the original Highliners left on their last run in revenue service. Metra confirmed in a Facebook post that twenty-four cars are being sent to museums around the Midwestern United States, including the Illinois Railway Museum, while an unconfirmed source stated that some cars were sent to Mendota, Illinois to be scrapped.^[22]