BNSF_Railway_Line

BNSF Line

BNSF Line

Commuter rail service in the Chicago area

This article is about a commuter rail line. For the freight railroad company that owns and operates the line, see BNSF Railway.

The BNSF Line is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs, running from Chicago Union Station to Aurora, Illinois through the Chicago Subdivision. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of the 11 Metra lines.[3] While Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, the BNSF line's color on Metra timetables is "Cascade Green," in honor of the Burlington Northern Railroad.[4]

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As of February 16, 2024, the public timetable shows 91 trains (44 inbound, 47 outbound) on the BNSF Line on weekdays. Of these, 32 inbound trains originate from Aurora, one from Downers Grove Main Street, nine from Fairview Avenue, and two from Brookfield. Five outbound trains terminate at Brookfield, five at Fairview Avenue, three at Naperville, and the rest at Aurora. Weekend service consists of 36 trains (18 in each direction), with trains making all stops from Union Station to Aurora, save for a morning and afternoon express train in each direction that run express from Union Station to Downers Grove Main Street.

Bike cars are available on weekday trains #1212 (leaves 5:29 A.M.,) #1252 (leaves 9:04 A.M.,) and #1284 (leaves 5:04 P.M.) inbound from Aurora, and trains #1217 (leaves 7:33 A.M.,) #1239 (leaves 3:10 P.M.,) and #1283 (leaves 6:50 P.M.) outbound to Aurora.

Bike cars are available on weekend trains #2002 (leaves 6:20 A.M.) and #2012 (leaves 10:20 A.M.) inbound from Aurora, and trains #2003 (leaves 8:40 A.M.) and #2013 (leaves 2:40 P.M.) outbound to Aurora.

The line is operated by BNSF under a "purchase of service agreement" with Metra, inherited from Burlington Northern. While Metra owns all rolling stock, the management and crews are BNSF employees. BNSF is the owner of the right-of-way, controls the line and handles dispatching from corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Metra imposes a 70 mph maximum allowed speed for passenger trains. The BNSF Line may be the only Metra commuter line that operates via purchase-of-service agreements as of 2024 due to the Union Pacific Railroad announcing its intentions to transfer the operations and supplying of commuter trains to the Metra system itself for the routes originating from the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

History

The railroad between Chicago and Aurora was constructed in 1864 by the Chicago and Aurora Railroad, which evolved into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB&Q operated the commuter service until the railroad merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970. Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1995 to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which would later rename itself to BNSF Railway.

When the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) began subsidizing Chicago's commuter rail operations in 1974, Burlington Northern continued to operate its line under contract to the RTA. This arrangement continued when the RTA organized its commuter rail lines under the RTA Commuter Rail Division in 1983, later rebranded as Metra in 1985.

Today, the triple-track line is one of the busiest rail corridors in the United States. In addition to the 91 Metra trains that currently use the line, BNSF freight trains frequent the line at all hours. Amtrak's Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, and Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg use the line as well, making an intermediate stop at Naperville. The Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg services also stop at La Grange Road. Rail fans have coined the line as the "BNSF Racetrack".[5]

The Clyde station at South Austin Boulevard and West 29th Street in Cicero was closed on April 1, 2007 due to low ridership and its dilapidation. In the months before its closure, it was used by about 50 passengers a day.[6]

Kendall County extension

There have been proposals to extend service west into Kendall County, which as of 2020 is outside the RTA's service area. Potential new stations would be built in Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, and Sandwich, Illinois.[7][8] The Plano station would be located over 1 mile west of the CB&Q Depot currently used by Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains.

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined 7% from 16.7 million to 15.5 million passengers.[9][10] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 3,659,617 passengers in 2020.[11][12]

5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Rolling stock

The BNSF Line's locomotive fleet consists of the EMD F40PH-3 and the EMD F40PHM-3. Until 2012, some MPI MP36PH-3S locomotives (401-405) also operated on the line; however, they were reassigned to the Milwaukee lines and the North Central Service due to operating difficulties. Passenger cars include Gallery Cars from Pullman (Bike Car), Budd, Morrison-Knudsen/Amerail, and Nippon Sharyo.

Stations

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References

  1. [1]
    "Operations and Ridership Data". Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  2. [2]
    State of the System - BNSF
  3. [3]
    "Ridership Reports -System Facts". Metra. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  4. [4]
    "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
  5. [5]
    Mann, Leslie (March 23, 2011). "When that lonesome whistle blows, rail fans know where to line up". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  6. [6]
    Ruzich, Joseph (February 21, 2007). "Cicero's Metra stop to receive makeover". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  7. [7]
    "A step closer on local Metra station". Oswego Ledger-Sentinel. March 12, 2009. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  8. [8]
    Girardi, Linda (November 26, 2019). "Possible Metra extension into Kendall County focus of upcoming meetings". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  9. [9]
    "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2018" (PDF). Metra. p. 4. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  10. [10]
    "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2019" (PDF). Metra. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  11. [11]
    "RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANNUAL REPORT 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  12. [12]
    "RTAMS | Regional Transportation Authority Mapping and Statistics". rtams.org. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
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