Metra Electric District

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

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.

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).