Metra adding trains on BNSF, UP North lines

CHICAGO — Metra will add service on its most-used route, the BNSF Line, and make changes to two of its Union Pacific lines in September, the commuter operator has announced.

On the BNSF Line between Aurora, Ill., and Chicago, the schedule effective Sept. 8 will include two new morning inbound express trains and two afternoon outbound express trains. An afternoon inbound train, No. 1268, will also go from an all-stops to a limited-stop train. On weekends, the schedule will see trains added to create hourly inbound service between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., and hourly outbound service between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., as well as a new late-night express train to Downers Grove that will depart at 10:30 p.m.

Some other trains will also see schedule adjustments. The new schedule is available here.

Weekend service will also be added on the UP North line to Waukegan, Ill, and Kenosha, Wis., which will now feature 15 round trips on both Saturdays and Sundays. Kenosha — the only Metra station outside of Illinois — will see a significant increase in service, with eight round trips on Saturdays and Sundays. Currently, Kenosha is served by five inbound trains and seven outbounds on Saturdays, and just three inbound and three outbound trains on Sundays. The new weekend schedule is available here; weekdays will be unchanged.

Finally, on the UP West line, a stop at Kedzie — the first station west of Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center — will be added for a number of off-peak weekday trains; weekend trains will add stops at Kedzie,  Maywood, and Melrose Park. These additional stops will lead to other small adjustments to arrival and departure times elsewhere; the new schedule is available here.

In press releases announcing the changes, Metra said the BNSF changes reflect customer feedback and ridership data; on the UP lines, the operator said its goal is to accommodate the needs of current riders and make the service more attractive to others.