Western Avenue station (Milwaukee District)

This article is about the Metra station serving the Milwaukee District lines. For the station on Metra's BNSF Line, see Western Avenue station (BNSF Railway).

Western Avenue is the name of a railroad station owned by Metra, located in the West Town community area^[2] of Chicago, Illinois near Western Avenue. The station is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) away from Union Station, the inbound terminus of the line.^[3] Western Avenue station serves the Milwaukee District West Line, North Central Service, and Milwaukee District North Line, and is the last inbound stop for these three lines before the terminus at Union Station. Although it is not a station stop, Amtrak's Hiawatha Service, Borealis, and the Empire Builder also pass through here. The station was previously used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Located near the station are the California Coach Yard, and the Western Avenue Rail Yard, the latter of which host to Metra's remaining EMD F40Cs. Just southeast of the station platforms is a diamond where the Milwaukee Road Metra routes cross the tracks of the Union Pacific West Line to Ogilvie Transportation Center, then turn to run parallel to them. This goes on for about a mile before they split, as the West Line tracks continue to Ogilvie. The junction is controlled by the nearby A-2 tower.

Western Avenue
Western Avenue station in September 2007.
General information
Location	420 North Artesian Avenue, near Grand Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60612
Coordinates	41.8892°N 87.6881°W / 41.8892; -87.6881
Owned by	Metra
Line(s)	C&M Subdivision Elgin Subdivision
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	Chicago Transit Authority
Construction
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	1900
Passengers
2018	836 (average weekday)[1]  1.5%
Rank	61 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station Healy toward Fox Lake Milwaukee District North Union Station Terminus Grand/Cicero Weekday Limited toward Big Timber Road Milwaukee District West River Grove toward Antioch North Central Service
Former services Preceding station Milwaukee Road Following station Deerfield towards Seattle or Tacoma Main Line Chicago Terminus Elgin towards Omaha Omaha – Chicago Healy towards Milwaukee Chicago – Milwaukee Healy towards Walworth Suburban Service North Line Hermosa towards Elgin Suburban Service West Line Preceding station Metra Following station Hermosa (Closed 2006) toward Big Timber Road Milwaukee District West Union Station Terminus
Track layout Legend Milwaukee District West Line west to Big Timber Road North Central Service north to Antioch Milwaukee District North Line north to Fox Lake to rail yard to rail yard Western Ave. UP-W MD-W NCS MD-N southeast to Union Station
Location

Service

As of 2018, Western Avenue is the 61st busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 836 weekday boardings.^[1]

Western Avenue is served by a total of 117 Metra trains on weekdays, by 44 trains on Saturdays, and by 36 trains on Sundays and holidays. This includes all inbound trains from the three lines, as well as all outbound trains save for one outbound Milwaukee District North Line train on weekdays.^[4][5][6]

Bus connections

CTA

• 49 Western (Owl Service)
• X49 Western Express (weekday rush hours only)
• 65 Grand

References

1. "Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018" (PDF). Metra. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019.
2. "Chicago Maps: Community Areas: West Town" (PDF). www.cityofchicago.org.
3. "MMNC". web.me.com.
4. "Milwaukee District West Line" (PDF). metra.com. 2022-12-12.
5. "Milwaukee District North Line" (PDF). metra.com.
6. "North Central Service Line" (PDF). metra.com. 2022-12-12.

External links

• Metra – Stations – Western Avenue station (Milwaukee District)
• Station House from Google Maps Street View