Milwaukee District / West Line

Milwaukee District / West Line
A Milwaukee District/West train at Roselle in 2009.
Overview
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Metra
Termini	Union Station Elgin/Big Timber Road
Stations	22
Daily ridership	22,100 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Operation
Owner	Metra (Dispatched by CP Rail)
Operator(s)	Metra, Canadian Pacific Railway
Technical
Line length	39.8 mi (64.1 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend 39.8 mi  64.1 km  Big Timber Road 36.6 mi  58.9 km  Elgin 36.0 mi  57.9 km  National Street Fox River Spaulding 30.1 mi  48.4 km  Bartlett 28.4 mi  45.7 km  Hanover Park 26.5 mi  42.6 km  Schaumburg 23.9 mi  38.5 km  Roselle 23.0 mi  37 km  Medinah 21.0 mi  33.8 km  Itasca Salt Creek 19.1 mi  30.7 km  Wood Dale 17.2 mi  27.7 km  Bensenville 14.0 mi  22.5 km  Mannheim 13.2 mi  21.2 km  Franklin Park NCS to Antioch 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 5.9 mi  9.5 km  Hermosa MD-N Coach Yard 2.9 mi  4.7 km  Western Avenue 2.9 mi  4.7 km  UP-W Northwest branch UP-N UP-NW Green and Pink Lines 0 mi Union Station BNSF to Aurora HC to Joliet SWS to Manhattan

The Milwaukee District / West Line (MD-W) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and the 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.^[2])

It runs from Union Station in downtown Chicago through the western suburbs to Elgin, Illinois. In April 2013 the public timetable shows 29 trains leaving Chicago each weekday, of which 22 run to Big Timber Road. Of the 7 trains that do not run through to Big Timber Road, 2 terminate at Franklin Park, 3 at Elgin, 1 at National Street, and 1 at Bartlett. All weekend trains terminate at Elgin; Big Timber Road does not have weekend service.

A new station at Grand Avenue and Cicero Avenue opened on December 11, 2006. It replaced stations in the Hermosa and Cragin neighborhoods.^[3]

Metra has long range plans to eventually extend the line to Huntley and Marengo, Illinois, and, in the long term, out to Rockford.^[4][5]

The line runs on the Canadian Pacific Railway Elgin Subdivision (Ex-Milwaukee Road line to Omaha).

Station stops

Station name	Location	Notes
Union Station	West Loop
Western Avenue	East Garfield Park
Hermosa	Hermosa	Closed in 2006
Grand/Cicero	Austin	Rush hour Service only
Cragin	Belmont Cragin	Closed in 2006
Hanson Park	Hanson Park	Rush Hour Service Only
Galewood	Galewood
Mars		Rush Hour Service Only
Mont Clare	Montclare
Elmwood Park	Elmwood Park
River Grove	River Grove
Franklin Park	Franklin Park
Mannheim		Rush Hour Service Only
Bensenville	Bensenville
Wood Dale	Wood Dale
Itasca	Itasca
Medinah	Medinah
Roselle	Roselle
Schaumburg	Schaumburg
Hanover Park	Hanover Park
Bartlett	Bartlett
Spaulding	Elgin/Bartlett	Closed 1971
National Street	Elgin
Elgin
Big Timber Road		Weekdays Only

References

1. "Ridership Reports - System Facts". Metra. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
2. "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009.
3. Metra (2006-12-11). "Metra - Station and Parking Construction Advisories". Archived from the original on 2006-12-08. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
4. "Marengo Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-10-20.
5. "NORTHERN ILLINOIS COMMUTER RAIL INITIATIVE COMMUTER RAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-10-20.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Metra Milwaukee District/West service schedule

Media related to Metra Milwaukee District/West Line at Wikimedia Commons