CHICAGO — Metra will cancel four weekday, midday trains on its Union Pacific Northwest line for almost two months, and is advising passengers to expect delays of 10 to 30 minutes on all other trains, as UP undertakes a major maintenance-of-way project beginning Monday, Aug. 4.
UP is planning tie replacement on all three tracks in a 24-mile stretch between Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood and Barrington, Ill., in a project scheduled for completion on Saturday, Sept. 20.
“Tie replacement is essential maintenance on the railroad, and this project is no exception,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “Temporarily cancelling a few select midday trains will help prevent congestion on the UP Northwest Line that could create more significant delays throughout the day.”
The Northwest Line, to Harvard and McHenry, Ill., normally sees 39 round trips daily on weekdays. The four trains to be eliminated originate or terminate at Crystal Lake, Ill.: inbound trains Nos. 648, an 11:48 a.m. departure, and 654, which leaves at 2:45 p.m., and outbound trains Nos. 621 and 627, which depart Chicago at 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m., respectively.
The schedule of 18 round trips on Saturdays, and 21 trains — 10 inbound and 11 outbound — on Sundays and holidays will not change.
Full schedules are available here.
