SouthWest Service

Metra SouthWest Service
SouthWest Service #827 leaves Union Station in 2011.
Overview
Type Commuter rail
System Metra
Termini Union Station
Manhattan
Stations 13
Daily ridership 9,600 (Avg. Weekday 2014)[1]
Operation
Owner Norfolk Southern Railway (Leased to Metra)
Operator(s) Metra, Norfolk Southern Railway
Technical
Track length 40.6 miles
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
Dist[2]
 Station
 NCS to Antioch
 MD-W to Big Timber Road
 MD-N to Fox Lake
0 mi
 Union Station Amtrak
 Blue Line
Dearborn Station
BNSF to Aurora
 Chicago River
CN Chicago Subdivision
Orange Line
to the Loop
HC to Joliet
CN Freeport Subdivision
Orange Line
to Midway
Cardinal
to Valparaiso
 Green Line
11.5 mi
18.5 km
 Wrightwood
12.2 mi
19.6 km
 Ashburn
14.7 mi
23.7 km
 Oak Lawn
 Stony Creek
16.6 mi
26.7 km
 Chicago Ridge
17.8 mi
28.6 km
 Worth
18.6 mi
29.9 km
 Palos Heights
 Calumet Sag Channel
19.8 mi
31.9 km
 Palos Park
23.0 mi
37 km
 Orland Park 143rd Street
25.2 mi
40.6 km
 Orland Park 153rd Street
28.7 mi
46.2 km
 Orland Park 179th Street
 Hickory Creek
 RI
35.4 mi
57 km
 Laraway Road
40.3 mi
64.9 km
 Manhattan

The Southwest Service (SWS) is a Metra commuter rail line, running southwest from Union Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois, to Manhattan, Illinois. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the SouthWest Service line are "Banner Blue," for the Wabash Railroad's Banner Blue passenger train.[3] The trackage is owned by Metra north of a junction with the Belt Railway of Chicago at Loomis Boulevard, and is leased from Norfolk Southern Railway south of the junction (NS has trackage rights over Metra's portion).[4]

History

The line south of the curve at the east end of the section aligned with 75th Street was built by the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway, which opened in 1880 to Chicago. That curve was a junction with the Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad, of which the Wabash owned one-fifth, and used to reach Dearborn Station in downtown Chicago.

After several reorganizations the Wabash Railroad was leased by the Norfolk and Western Railway on October 16, 1964.[5]:145 After Amtrak assumed control of most intercity passenger trains on May 1, 1971, the Chicago-Orland Park commuter train was the only train which still used Dearborn. It continued to use a small platform and track on the property until 1976 when it relocated to Union Station, via a new connection at Alton Junction.[6]:71 Under N&W operation the train was known as the Orland Park Cannonball.[7] The Regional Transportation Authority began to subsidize the service in 1978. N&W merged into the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982, and for a while the line was known as the Norfolk Southern Line (NS). On June 1, 1993 Metra took over operations and renamed it the SouthWest Service.[4]

The rail line expansion project, which includes 11 miles (18 km) of new track and at least two additional train stations, was completed (except for the Laraway Road station) in January 2006. The number of trains per day increased from 16 to 30, 15 in each direction. For years, Pace operated Route 835, whose bus service enhanced the limited train service in the SouthWest Service corridor. With the rail service expansion, ridership on route 835 became so poor that Pace eliminated it on August 17, 2007.

Metra started Saturday service on March 21, 2009, with six trains between Union Station and Manhattan.[8]

In the near future, SouthWest Service trains will shift from Union Station to LaSalle Street Station with the reconfiguration of the 75th Street Corridor proposed by Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE).[9] Additional mainline trackage will be also be built between LaSalle St Station and 74th to handle the increase in traffic. LaSalle St Station will also be expanded.[10] This would relieve congestion at Union Station and improve reliability for the SouthWest Service, as well as allowing up to more trains to run in each direction.[9]

Service frequency

As of February 5, 2018, the last time Metra revised the timetable, the SouthWest Service has fifteen round-trips per day on weekdays and three on Saturday. There is no Sunday service. All Saturday trains run through to Manhattan. Of the weekday trains, one terminates at Orland Park 153rd Street, two at Manhattan, and the remainder at Orland Park 179th Street.[11]

From 2006 to early 2018, a third weekday train (a midday one) terminated at Manhattan. Due to lack of ridership as well as service cuts, this train became a short-turn to Orland Park 179th Street effective Spring 2018.

The Laraway Road and Manhattan stations see a combined ridership of under 60 people daily, making them two of the least-used stations on Metra's system.

Stations

Zone Station Municipality County Notes
A Union Station Chicago Cook Connections:

Mainline rail interchange Metra trains: Milwaukee District / North, Milwaukee District/West, North Central Service, BNSF Railway, and Heritage Corridor
Mainline rail interchange 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
Metro interchange CTA "L" trains: Blue Line (at Clinton), Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Line Express (at Quincy)
Bus interchange 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
Bus interchange Pace buses: 755 Plainfield/IMD/West Loop Express
Intercity bus service Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: Chicago-Madison and Chicago-Rockford (via Van Galder), Chicago-Louisville (via Greyhound)

C Wrightwood Connections:

Bus interchange CTA buses: 52A South Kedzie and 79 79th

Ashburn
D Oak Lawn Oak Lawn Connections:

Bus interchange Pace buses: 381 95th Street and 395 95th/Dan Ryan CTA Station/UPS Hodgkins

Chicago Ridge Chicago Ridge Connections:

Bus interchange Pace buses: 384 Narragansett - Ridgeland

Worth Worth Connections:

Bus interchange Pace buses: 385 87th/111th/127th and 386 South Harlem

Palos Heights Palos Heights Connections:

Bus interchange Pace buses: 769 Palos Heights/Oak Lawn-Soldier Field Express and 774 Palos Heights/Oak Lawn-US Cellular Field Express

E Palos Park Palos Park
Orland Park 143rd Street Orland Park Connections:

Bus interchange Pace buses:

Orland Park 153rd Street
F Orland Park 179th Street
H Laraway Road New Lenox Will No off-peak service
I Manhattan Manhattan No off-peak service

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
  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. 1 2 Metra (2013). "SouthWest Service History". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ Schafer, Mike (2000). More Classic American Railroads. Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7603-0758-8. OCLC 44089438.
  6. ↑ Holland, Kevin J. (2001). Classic American Railroad Terminals. Osceola, WI: MBI. ISBN 9780760308325. OCLC 45908903.
  7. ↑ Norfolk and Western Railway (July 3, 1972). "Suburban Passenger Service".
  8. ↑ Hood, Joel (March 2, 2009). "Metra adding Saturday service to SouthWest line in March". Chicago Metra. Archived from the original on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  9. 1 2 "P2, P3, EW2, GS19 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project" (PDF). CREATE. November 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Metra Moving". Railway Track & Structures. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Metra (October 16, 2011). "Southwest Service". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved June 7, 2014.

Route map:

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