CHICAGO — Metra will expand service on its UP Northwest Line as of Monday, April 3, increasing operations beyond pre-pandemic levels by adding 12 weekday trains.
The new schedule will provide service at least every 30 minutes during morning and evening rush hours, and hourly service during off-peak periods. It will increase service to 78 trains daily, compared to the current total of 66 and 65 before the pandemic.
“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,” Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a press release. “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.”
The new schedules are available here.
If the Chicago Bears are successful in building their new sports and residential complex in nearby Arlington Heights, this is going to be a busy line in the future.