Heritage Corridor

Heritage Corridor
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Termini	Chicago; Joliet
Stations	7
Daily ridership	2,400 (Avg. Weekday 2016)[1]
Operation
Owner	Metra
Operator(s)	Metra, Canadian National
Technical
Line length	37.3 mi (60.0 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map
	IC West Line
	to Randolph Street Station
	Orange Line
	to Loop
	IC West Line
	to Addison
	Orange Line
	to Midway
	Lincoln Service
	to St. Louis
	Texas Eagle
	to Los Angeles

The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its suburbs. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as "Alton Maroon," after the Alton Railroad, which ran trains on this route.^[3] The name Heritage Corridor refers to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage Corridor. Established in 1984, it runs parallel to the line.^[4]

The Heritage Corridor runs during weekday rush hours only in the peak direction (to Chicago in AM rush, to Joliet in PM rush). The Heritage Corridor Line takes less than 1 hour to reach Joliet, significantly faster than the Rock Island District Line which also serves Joliet.

A fourth outbound train was added on March 14, 2016. Now eight trains run on the Heritage Corridor, three of them inbound, four outbound, and one running as a deadhead (it picks up no passengers). All trains run through to (and start at) Joliet.

Route

The line runs from Union Station in downtown Chicago through southwestern suburbs to Joliet, Illinois. In March 2016, the public timetable shows four Chicago to Joliet trains each weekday. An additional train runs inbound during the afternoon rush hour but as an empty equipment move or deadhead.

Amtrak's Texas Eagle and Lincoln Service use these tracks from Union Station to Joliet. The Texas Eagle only stops at Chicago and Joliet, while the Lincoln Service also stops at Summit. The Joliet Transportation Center replaced the Joliet Union Station on April 11, 2018.^[5]

On May 16, 2017, Metra announced that the new station for Romeoville had officially broken ground near the intersection of 135th St and New Avenue. The cost of the new station is estimated to be around $4.9 million.^[6] The station was opened to the public on February 5, 2018.^[7]

There are proposals to add more intermediate stations on the line at Bridgeport, Brighton Park, and Justice, as well as an extension to Braidwood, Illinois with stations at Elwood and Wilmington.

Stations

Zone	Station	Municipality	County	Notes
A	Union Station	Chicago	Cook	Connections: Metra trains: Milwaukee District / North, Milwaukee District/West, North Central Service, BNSF Railway, and SouthWest Service Amtrak trains: California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Hiawatha Service, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Hoosier State, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle, Lake Shore Limited, Pere Marquette, Wolverine, Blue Water, and Lincoln Service CTA "L" trains: Blue Line (at Clinton), Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Line Express (at Quincy) CTA buses: 1 Bronzeville/Union Station, 7 Harrison, J14 Jeffery Jump, 19 United Center Express, 28 Stony Island, 56 Milwaukee, 60 Blue Island/26th, 120 Ogilvie/Streeterville Express, 121 Union/Streeterville Express, 124 Navy Pier, 125 Water Tower Express, 126 Jackson, 128 Soldier Field Express, 130 Museum Campus, 151 Sheridan, 156 LaSalle, 157 Streeterville/Taylor, 192 University of Chicago Hospitals Express Pace buses: 755 Plainfield/IMD/West Loop Express Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (via Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (via Greyhound)
C	Summit	Summit		Connections: Amtrak trains: Lincoln Service Pace buses: 307 Harlem
D	Willow Springs	Willow Springs
E	Lemont	Lemont
F	Romeoville	Romeoville	Will	Opened on February 5, 2018^[7]
G	Lockport	Lockport		Connections: Pace buses: 834 Joliet/Downers Grove
H	Joliet	Joliet		Connections: Metra trains: Rock Island District Amtrak trains: Lincoln Service and Texas Eagle Pace buses: 501 West Jefferson, 504 South Joliet, 505 West Joliet Loop, 507 Plainfield, 508 East Joliet, 509 Forest Park, 511 Joliet–Elwood–Deer Run, 832 Joliet – Orland Square, and 834 Joliet – Downers Grove

Notes

↑ "Operations and Ridership Data". Metra. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
↑ Metra Railfan Tips - Heritage Corridor
↑ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.
↑ Baty (2004), 237-238.
↑ Fabbre, Alicia (April 11, 2018). "New train station opens for commuters in Joliet, ending a six-year wait". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
↑ https://www.metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/romeoville-breaks-ground-new-metra-station
1 2 "Romeoville Metra station opens – Bugle Newspapers". buglenewspapers.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.

References

Baty, Chris (2004). Chicago. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74104-032-9.

External links

Route map:

Heritage Corridor service schedule

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Operations and Ridership Data". Metra. Retrieved October 7, 2017.

[2] Metra Railfan Tips - Heritage Corridor

[3] "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-01-02.

[4] Baty (2004), 237-238.

[5] Fabbre, Alicia (April 11, 2018). "New train station opens for commuters in Joliet, ending a six-year wait". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[6] ttps://www.metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/romeoville-breaks-ground-new-metra-station

[:0-7] 1 2 "Romeoville Metra station opens – Bugle Newspapers". buglenewspapers.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.