North Central Service

North Central Service (NCS)
A North Central Service train at O'Hare Transfer in 2010.
Overview
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Metra
Termini	Union Station Antioch
Stations	18
Daily ridership	5,600 (Avg. Weekday 2009)[1]
Operation
Opened	August 19, 1996
Owner	Metra (Union Station to River Grove) CN beyond River Grove
Operator(s)	Metra
Technical
Line length	55.7 mi (89.6 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend 55.7 Antioch 50.7 Lake Villa 48.5 Round Lake Beach 46.5 Washington Street (Grayslake) MD-N 43.4 Prairie Crossing / Libertyville 39.6 Mundelein 35.7 Vernon Hills 34.4 Prairie View 32.0 Buffalo Grove 29.9 Wheeling 26.6 Prospect Heights UP-NW Suburban Transit Access Route 19.8 O'Hare Transfer Blue Line 18.6 Rosemont 17.4 Schiller Park 15.8 Belmont Avenue (Franklin Park) MD-W to Elgin Des Plaines River 11.4 mi  18.3 km  River Grove Nonstop 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 North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In April 2013 the public timetable shows 11 weekday departures from Chicago, one to Lake Villa and the rest to Antioch.

Between Union Station and River Grove stations the North Central Service shares tracks with Metra's Milwaukee District/West Line, but does not stop at any of the stations used by the MD-W between Western Avenue and River Grove. About a mile west of the River Grove, this route turns north at a junction known as tower B-12. The rest of the route operates on track owned and dispatched by the Canadian National Railway ("CN"). A single daily inbound train, #120, uses a combination of the North Central Service's trackage and the Milwaukee District North line's trackage by using a crossing with that line in Grayslake.

The CN assumed ownership of this route on September 7, 2001 when the CN absorbed the Wisconsin Central Railroad ("WC"). The WC operated this route after it was purchased from the Soo Line Railroad in April 1987. Metra provides its own crews for this service and operates under a trackage rights agreement with the CN.

Service began August 19, 1996.^[2] As of 2006, this is the only new line in the Metra system since its formation. Prior to the start of NCS, the last passenger service on this route ended in 1965, when the Soo Line discontinued the overnight Chicago-Duluth Laker.

The North Central Service serves O'Hare International Airport, but because of the limited number of trains (not to mention the lack of weekend service) it is not a recommended method of reaching the airport. However, Metra does operate one express train from Union Station to O'Hare Transfer daily.

The North Central Service, the Heritage Corridor, and SouthWest Service are the only Metra lines that are fully ADA-accessible.

No tickets are sold at any North Central Service stations outside Chicago.

Recent history

On January 30, 2006 four new stations on the North Central Service opened: Franklin Park, Schiller Park, Rosemont, and Grayslake.^[3] Another station, at Grand and Cicero Avenues in Chicago (between the Western Avenue and River Grove stops), was scheduled to be completed by the end of as of 2006. Service doubled from 10 to 20 trains per day with this change in the timetable.^[4]

On September 11, 2006 service expanded from 20 to 22 trains when Metra split one rush-hour local train in each direction into two express trains.

Notably, the line goes through Des Plaines but does not have a station there. The station in Des Plaines was on Thacker Street and closed in 1965.

Metra has considered adding weekend service to the North Central Service ever since Saturday service was added to the SouthWest Service, and has also considered operating six trains between Chicago and Antioch, like the SouthWest Service.

References

1. "Ridership Reports - System Facts". Metra. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
2. http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/mmnc.html Metra Railfan Tips - North Central Service
3. metrarail.com
4. newstart.metrarail.com

• J. David Ingles, Ready or not, here we come, Trains November 1996

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

Media related to Metra North Central Service at Wikimedia Commons

• Metra North Central Service schedule