Metra is launching a survey and scheduling public outreach events this month to ask riders what they think about potentially renaming lines to make the system easier to understand for new and occasional riders.
The survey can be found here or at metra.com/LineNames and the outreach events will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the following schedule:
- March 11: Chicago Union Station
- March 12: Ogilvie Transportation Center
- March 13: Millennium Station and LaSalle Street Station
The effort is spurred in part by the coming transition to Metra of the operation of the Union Pacific North, Northwest, and West lines. Union Pacific Railroad owns those lines and has historically operated them with its own employees, but UP no longer wants to run passenger trains. Metra has been hiring many of UP’s workers and this spring will begin to directly run the service, and “Union Pacific” will be phased out of the line names.
Renaming the three UP lines presents Metra with an opportunity to reconsider all its line names, which follow no logical or consistent pattern. Many are named after freight railroads that used to or still operate the service, while some are named for directions, or how trains are powered, or their location in a historic corridor. On maps, signs, and timetables, each line uses a different color.
The result can be confusing for new users, and for those who have limited proficiency with English. For instance, two lines have “Milwaukee” in their names, because they were once part of the Milwaukee Road, but they do not go to that city.
The survey will ask riders to choose between three options (see illustration here):
- Retaining all the current names and colors except for the three UP lines;
- Using a single color for all lines and labeling all lines with an “M” for Metra paired with a number. For instance, M1, M2, M3, etc.
- Using a single color for lines that share a downtown station, and labeling them with a letter to indicate the direction they go from downtown paired with a number. For instance, the three lines that use Ogilvie would be the same color, and would be labeled N1 (for the UP North), N4 (for the UP Northwest) and W2 (for the UP West).
Metra believes developing clear and consistent line names may make the system easier to understand and encourage infrequent and first-time riders to ride more often. Research indicates that 7 out of 10 customers ride once a month or less, while 4 out of 10 ride only once a year.
Metra is in the early stages of a larger systemwide signage and wayfinding project, which will replace a variety of wayfinding, identification, and informational signs that have been installed over the years with redesigned signs that have a common appearance and use common language. It makes practical and economic sense to also consider changing the line names as part of this effort.
The effort will be in the design stage this year into 2026, transitioning to the manufacture/installation phase later in 2026. Metra hopes to complete the rollout of the new signs by early 2029.
