Metra is revising its schedule on the UP Northwest Line (UP-NW) beginning Monday, April 3. The updated schedule adds 12 trains to the line’s weekday service, exceeding pre-pandemic service levels.
“Metra has been monitoring ridership as well as customer feedback, and these schedule changes respond to ridership trends and increase capacity and convenience by expanding peak period as well as off-peak service,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “And with a major multiyear rehab project scheduled to start on the Kennedy Expressway, this new schedule allows Metra to provide more commuters with a viable and much less stressful alternative to driving.”
UP-NW riders are advised to review the new schedule here as departure and arrival times have been shifted on many trains to accommodate the additional service. Metra will monitor customer feedback and operating conditions and make additional schedule adjustments as needed to meet riders’ needs.
The last major revisions to the UP-NW schedule occurred nearly a year ago as pandemic restrictions lifted and more people returned to the daily commute. The new schedule, launching April 3, will provide service at least every 30 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours as well as hourly service at most stations during off peak hours. The 12 additional weekday trips will increase the line’s total to 78 trips compared to 66 today and 65 before the pandemic.
Outbound service in the early evening rush is expanded with three new trains departing Chicago between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., including a 3:22 p.m. departure to McHenry that riders have requested. Arlington Heights riders will also have more express service in the morning and the evening rush hours with a new inbound train arriving downtown at 7:25 a.m. and a new outbound train departing downtown at 5:07 p.m. The new schedule adds a reverse-commute option for students at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, with a new 6:35 a.m. departure from Chicago.
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