Union Pacific North Line

The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin. Most runs of the trains, however, terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling stock, the trains are operated and dispatched by the Union Pacific Railroad.

This line was previously operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway before its merger with the Union Pacific Railroad, being called the Chicago and North Western Milwaukee Division and then the Chicago & North Western/North Line before the C&NW was absorbed by Union Pacific on April 19, 1995.

The UP-N is currently the only Metra line that travels outside Illinois (albeit still within Chicagoland). The MARK project is currently considering options to extend service north from Chicagoland to the greater Milwaukee area.^[5]

Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Pacific North line are dark "Flambeau Green", a nod to the C&NW's Flambeau 400 passenger train.^[6]

Until 2022, a private club car ran weekdays exclusively on the Union Pacific North Line. It was the last remaining private car in service on a commuter railroad in the United States.

As of September 20, 2025, the current timetable shows 71 trains (35 inbound, 36 outbound) on weekdays. Of these, ten inbound trains originate from Kenosha, 16 from Waukegan, seven from Highland Park, and two from Winnetka. Four outbound trains terminate at Winnetka, six at Highland Park, 17 at Waukegan, and nine at Kenosha.

Fifteen trains operate in each direction on weekends and holidays. Of these, eight inbound trains originate from Kenosha and seven originate from Waukegan. Seven outbound trains terminate at Waukegan and eight terminate at Kenosha.

During the summer concert season, on weekends, an extra outbound train, named RAV1, makes all stops to Winnetka, then runs express to Ravinia Park during events, with a train returning to Chicago after the concert.

All stations on the line except for Ravinia Park are open daily. Ravinia Park is only open during the Ravinia Festival in the summer months.

In 1854, the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad constructed the route followed by the UP North Line.^[7]

On January 4, 1855, passenger service began between Chicago and Waukegan. Initially, a single train operated each day, departing from a terminal in Chicago at Water St. and Kinzie St. at 8:30 am (08:30 CT) and returning from Waukegan at 3:30 pm (15:30 CT).^[8][9]

The president of the railroad, former Chicago mayor Walter S. Gurnee, speculated on land in Lake County, spurring the development of railway suburbs along the line.^[10]

In 1863, the railroad merged with the Green Bay, Milwaukee & Chicago Railroad, and was then acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1866.^[9][11]

In 1911, commuter rail services along the line started operating into the new Chicago and North Western Terminal (now Ogilvie Transportation Center).

In 1966, the Chicago and North Western closed the Lake Front Depot and began operating into the new Milwaukee Union Station. This service would ultimately prove to be relatively short lived as the Chicago and North Western ended operations between Chicago and Milwaukee in 1971 and the line was truncated to Kenosha.

In 1984, the North line became part of the newly-formed Metra agency. The trains continued to be operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway under contract until that railroad was bought by Union Pacific in 1995.

From 1995 to 2025, Union Pacific operated passenger services along the line for Metra. Under a longstanding agreement that Union Pacific inherited from the C&NW, Metra owned the rolling stock and the stations along the line, while Union Pacific crews operated the trains, and Union Pacific had continued to control the right-of-way along the route.

Beginning in 2023, Union Pacific announced that commuter operations on all three of the Union Pacific lines would be transferred to Metra; the Union Pacific would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way.^[12][13]

The transfer was initially expected to occur by Q1 or the end of March 2024,^[14] but it was delayed by a year to May 16, 2025.^[15][16][17]

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined by 8.3% from 9,328,441 passengers to 8,552,117 passengers.^[18][19] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,300,363 passengers in 2020.^[20][21] As of October 2024, the line has Metra's highest ridership recovery rate at 83% of pre-pandemic weekday ridership. Peak-direction ridership is at 70% of pre-pandemic numbers, while all other metrics (reverse-peak, midday, evening, Saturday, and Sunday ridership) is at or above pre-pandemic ridership.^[22]

The service shares the Union Pacific Railroad's Harvard Subdivision with the Union Pacific Northwest Line from Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago to a junction just before Clybourn station. From Clybourn, the North Line splits from the Northwest Line and traverses the Kenosha Subdivision north to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Kenosha Subdivision continues to St. Francis, Wisconsin and a junction with the Union Pacific's Milwaukee Subdivision.^[23]

No passenger trains currently operate north of Kenosha, but options are being considered to eventually extend service to Milwaukee, possibly with different rolling stock.^[5]

The Green Bay Trail parallels the Union Pacific North Line, using the former right of way of the North Shore Line for over 51.9 miles (83.5 km) from the Chicago Loop to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

• Kenosha–Racine–Milwaukee rail service, a proposed restoration of passenger service between Kenosha and Milwaukee.

• Metra Union Pacific/North service schedule