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Milwaukee District West Line

The Milwaukee District West Line (MD-W) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to any of its lines by a particular color, but the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District West line are dark "Arrow Yellow," honoring the Milwaukee Road's Arrow passenger train.[3] Trains are dispatched from the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway's American headquarters in Minneapolis.

Milwaukee District West Line
A Milwaukee District West train at Roselle in 2009.
Overview
OwnerMetra (Dispatched by Canadian Pacific Kansas City)
Termini
Stations22
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemMetra
Operator(s)Metra, CPKC Railway
Daily ridership22,100 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Ridership2,302,491 (2023)
Technical
Line length39.8 mi (64.1 km)
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
Map Milwaukee District West Line highlighted in orange
Legend
CPKC Railway
39.8 mi
64.1 km
 Big Timber Road
36.6 mi
58.9 km
 Elgin
Elgin Coach Yard
36.0 mi
57.9 km
 National Street
Fox River
Fox River Trail
Spaulding
EJ&E Railway
30.1 mi
48.4 km
 Bartlett
28.4 mi
45.7 km
 Hanover Park
DuPage River (West Branch)
26.5 mi
42.6 km
 Schaumburg
23.9 mi
38.5 km
 Roselle
23.0 mi
37 km
 Medinah
I-290.svg I-290
21.1 mi
34 km
 Itasca
Salt Creek Trail
Salt Creek
19.1 mi
30.7 km
 Wood Dale
17.2 mi
27.7 km
 Bensenville
I-490.svg I-490 (under construction)
I-294.svg I-294
Union Pacific Railroad
14.0 mi
22.5 km
 Mannheim
13.2 mi
21.2 km
 Franklin Park
Left arrow IN Harbor Belt | CN Railway
enlarge… NCS to Antioch Right arrow
Des Plaines River
11.4 mi
18.3 km
 River Grove
10.2 mi
16.4 km
 Elmwood Park
9.5 mi
15.3 km
 Mont Clare
9.1 mi
14.6 km
 Mars
8.6 mi
13.8 km
 Galewood
7.7 mi
12.4 km
 Hanson Park
7.0 mi
11.3 km
Cragin
6.5 mi
10.5 km
 Grand/Cicero
Belt Railway of Chicago
5.9 mi
9.5 km
Hermosa
enlarge… MD-N to Fox Lake
 Amtrak UpperRight arrow
to Milwaukee, St. Paul,
Seattle and Portland
Bloomingdale Trail
Coach Yard
2.9 mi
4.7 km
 Western Avenue
enlarge… UpperLeft arrow UP-W to Elburn
Chicago "L"
Logan Square branch
I-90.svgI-94.svg I-90 / I-94
Blue to O'Hare
enlarge… UP-NW
to Harvard
or McHenry
 enlarge… UP-N to Kenosha
Green Pink
Blue to Forest Park
Ogilvie
0 mi
 Union Station Amtrak
enlarge… BNSF to Aurora
enlarge… HC to Joliet
enlarge… SWS to Manhattan
Key
 Milwaukee District West Line
Other Metra lines
Metra Union Pacific lines
Other freight lines
CTA lines
Mileage source[2]
Handicapped/disabled access All stations are accessible except Mannheim.
This diagram:

The line runs from Chicago Union Station through the western suburbs to Elgin, Illinois. As of February 15, 2024, the public timetable shows 52 trains (26 in each direction) operating on weekdays. Of these, 19 inbound trains originate from Big Timber Road, three from Elgin, one from National Street, and three from Franklin Park. Three outbound trains terminate at Franklin Park, one at National Street, and the remainder terminate at Big Timber Road.

On weekends, Metra operates 12 roundtrips on Saturdays and nine on Sundays and holidays, all running from Union Station to Elgin. There is no weekend or holiday service to Big Timber Road.

The line runs on the CPKC Railway's Elgin Subdivision (ex-Milwaukee Road line to Omaha). In 1982, the Milwaukee Road Elgin Line was sold to the newly created Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Rail Corporation which ran commuter trains for the Milwaukee Road while the latter underwent reorganization. The Milwaukee Road retained ownership of the line until 1986. Metra formally purchased the Milwaukee District (the only other being Milwaukee District North) from the Soo Line Railroad (which took the bankrupt Milwaukee Road under its wing in 1985) in 1987. The Soo Line then ran freight trains on the line via trackage rights before its absorption 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, or CPKC.

Metra has included the possibility of extending the Milwaukee District West Line along one of two routes in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the line could continue west via CPKC trackage to Hampshire, with an additional stop in Pingree Grove. Alternatively, the line could switch to the Union Pacific Railroad's Belvidere line (ex-Chicago & North Western line to Freeport) and travel northwest from Big Timber Road to Marengo, with additional stops in Gilberts, Huntley, and Union.[4] In 2023, Governor J. B. Pritzker selected Metra to operate new intercity passenger rail beyond Big Timber Road to Rockford using the Milwaukee District West Line, with intermediate stops in Belvidere, Huntley, and at one of the three existing Metra stations in Elgin. The service would provide additional capacity to the existing line; introducing express reverse commute and expanded weekend options between Elgin and Union Station.[5] The extension is scheduled to open in 2027, making it the first passenger rail service to connect Chicago and Rockford after the discontinuation of Amtrak's Black Hawk service in 1981.[6][7][8][9]

Ridership

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Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined 15% from 6,946,268 to 5,904,808.[10][11] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 1,480,973 passengers in 2020.[12][13]

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

Rolling stock

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The MD-W line's locomotive fleet consists of mainly MPI MP36PH-3C diesel-electric locomotives, with some EMD F40PH locomotives. The line also operates ex-GO Transit EMD F59PH locomotives. The fleet is pooled with the fleets for the North Central Service and the Milwaukee District North Line. As of 2016, three of these locomotives are in operation.

Coaches, or passenger railcars, consist mostly of Nippon Sharyo railcars built in the early 2000s. Cab cars are Nippon Sharyo built. Budd-built railcars also operate on the line, but the cab cars built by Budd have not been in use since the delivery of the newer railcars.

Stations

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County Zone Location Station Connections and notes
Kane 4 Elgin Big Timber Road
Elgin Bus interchange  Pace: 541, 542, 543, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 552, 554, 603, 801
National Street Bus interchange  Pace: 546, 801
Cook
  Elgin/Bartlett Spaulding Closed 1971
4 Bartlett Bartlett
DuPage/
Cook 		Hanover Park Hanover Park Bus interchange  Pace: 554
Formerly called Ontarioville
Schaumburg Schaumburg
DuPage Roselle Roselle
3 Medinah Medinah
Itasca Itasca
Wood Dale Wood Dale
Bensenville Bensenville Bus interchange  Pace: 319, 332
Cook 2 Franklin Park Mannheim   Bus interchange  Pace: 319, 330
Franklin Park Bus interchange  Pace: 303, 319
River Grove River Grove Metra  Metra: ■ North Central Service
Bus interchange  Pace: 319, 331
Elmwood Park Elmwood Park Bus interchange  Pace: 307, 319
Chicago Mont Clare Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 65, 74
Mars  
Galewood Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 86
Hanson Park   Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 65, 85
Cragin Closed in 2006, replaced by Grand/Cicero
Grand/Cicero   Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 54, 65, 73
Hermosa Closed in 2006, replaced by Grand/Cicero
Western Avenue Metra  Metra: ■ Milwaukee District North, ■ North Central Service
Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 49, X49, 65
Ashland–Ogden Proposed station; to open in 2032[14]
1 Union Station Amtrak  Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Floridian, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle
Amtrak  Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Borealis, Hiawatha, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine
Metra  Metra: ■ BNSF, ■ Heritage Corridor, ■ Milwaukee District North, ■ North Central Service, ■ SouthWest Service
  Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy)
Bus interchange  CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192
Bus interchange  Pace Bus: 755
Bus interchange  Amtrak Thruway: Chicago–Madison and Chicago–Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago–Louisville (Greyhound)

References

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  1. ^ "Ridership Reports - System Facts". Metra. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  2. ^ State of the System - Milwaukee District West
  3. ^ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
  4. ^ "Systemwide Cost Benefit Analysis of Major Capital Improvements" (PDF). Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Studenkov, Igor (July 21, 2023). "Metra Board of Directors officially signs off on planning Rockford service via Memorandum of Understanding with IDOT - Streetsblog Chicago". Streetsblog Chicago. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Schobinger, Meghan (July 6, 2023). "Metra to bring rail service to Rockford, Belvidere in 2027". WIFR-LD. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Neveau, James (July 6, 2023). "Metra to restore rail service between Rockford, Chicago for first time in 40 years". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  8. ^ "Gov. Pritzker Announces Partnership with Metra to Restore Chicago-Rockford Passenger Rail Service". www.illinois.gov. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "Chicago to Rockford | Illinois Passenger Rail". www.chicagotorockfordrail.org. July 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  11. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  12. ^ "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  13. ^ RTAMS. "Metra Monthly Ridership by Line".}
  14. ^ Studenkov, Igor (October 15, 2021). "New Metra station proposed near Kinzie/Ashland, but it wouldn't open until at least 2032 - Streetsblog Chicago". Streetsblog Chicago. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
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