Illinois

State Details

See Wikipedia; also see United States for information relating to the country as a whole, and the national operator Amtrak.

Maps

Illinois is covered by the SPV "North America Railroad Atlas" volume Great Lakes West.

Rail Operators

• AMTRAK
  • AMTRAK Interstate services - Chicago is a primary hub for AMTRAK services. The following services pass through the state, starting or finishing in Chicago
    • The Empire Builder/The Borealis, The Empire Builder runs Chicago to Seattle/Portland. The Borealis runs over the first part of this route from Chicago to St. Paul/Minneapolis.
    • The California Zephyr, Chicago to San Francisco
    • The Southwest Chief', Chicago to Los Angeles
    • The Texas Eagle, Chicago to San Antonio
    • The City of New Orleans, Chicago to New Orleans
    • The Cardinal, Chicago - Indianapolis - Washington D.C. - New York
    • The Capitol Limited, Chicago - Pittsburgh - Washington D.C. In 2024 temporarily combined with the Silver Star to form a Chicago - Washington D.C. - Miami service called The Floridian.
    • The Lake Shore Limited, Chicago - Albany - New York/Boston.
    • Michigan Services. Three services from Chicago to Grand Rapids/East Lansing, Port Huron and Detroit/Pontiac.
  • AMTRAK Illinois Service - The Illinois Service, branded Amtrak Illinois, comprises three passenger rail routes operated by Amtrak in the American state of Illinois.
    • Chicago–Quincy: two round trips daily, the Illinois Zephyr and the Carl Sandburg.
    • Chicago–St. Louis Lincoln Service: four round trips daily and the only route that serves another state. See Missouri State Page.
    • Chicago–Carbondale.
• METRA - Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. There are 11 routes.
  • BNSF line - This 37.5-mile (60.4 km) route runs from Union Station to Aurora, Illinois. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services IL24
  • Heritage Corridor - A 37.2-mile (59.9 km) route, running from Union Station to Joliet, Illinois
  • Milwaukee District North Line - A 49.5-mile (79.7 km) route from Union Station to Fox Lake, Illinois.
  • Milwaukee District West Line - A 39.8-mile (64.1 km) route from Union Station to Big Timber Road in Elgin, Illinois
  • North Central Service - This is a 52.8-mile (85.0 km) route from Union Station to Antioch, Illinois
  • Rock Island - The Rock Island district comprises two lines
    • LaSalle Street Station to Joliet (40.0-mile (64.4 km))
    • The Beverly branch, which is a 6.6-mile (10.6 km) loop off the LaSalle Street Station to Joliet line from Gresham to Blue Island (Vermont Street)
  • SouthWest Service - A 40.8-mile (65.7 km) route from Union Station to Manhattan, Illinois, though most trains end at Orland Park 179th Street.
  • Union Pacific North - The only route that travels outside Illinois, this is a 51.6-mile (83.0 km) route from Ogilvie Transportation Center to Kenosha, Wisconsin, with most trains ending in Waukegan, Illinois.
  • Union Pacific Northwest - A 63.2-mile (101.7 km) route from Ogilvie Transportation Center to Harvard, Illinois, with most trains ending in Crystal Lake.
  • Union Pacific West - A 43.6-mile (70.2 km) route running from Ogilvie Transportation Center to Elburn, Illinois.
  • Metra Electric - This comprises three electrified lines, the main line Millennium Station to University Park, and two branches off this line. The line from Millennium Station to Kensington 115th Street is shared with the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad under a no compete agreement.
    • Millennium Station to University Park (31.5-mile (50.7 km)). See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services IL14
    • The South Chicago branch - 63rd Street to 93rd Street (South Chicago), 4.7-miles (7.6 km).
    • The Blue Island branch - Kensington 115th Street to Blue Island is 4.4-miles (7.0 km) long.
• Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad
  • Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District - This is the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad. It runs 90.1 miles from Millennium Station, Chicago, Illinois to South Bend Airport, South Bend, Indiana, crossing the state border just west of Hammond Gateway which is at 20.8 miles. The railway is standard gauge and electrified at 1500V DC Overhead.

Metro and light rail systems

• Chicago Transit Authority - The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. it is the fourth-largest rapid transit system in the United States in terms of total route length, at 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services IL15.
• MetroLink (st. Louis) - This light rail system that serves the Greater St. Louis area and extends over the Mississippi to Shiloh-Scott in Illinois. It is the only U.S. light rail system that crosses state lines.

Tourist Lines

• Fox River Trolley Museum - Operates a 1.9 mile long mainline along the banks of the Fox River from Castlemuir station in South Elgin to Blackhawk, which is in a Forest Preserve.
• Illinois Railway Museum The largest railroad museum in the United States, located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, 55 miles (89 km) northwest of downtown Chicago. Electric and diesel traction is used on 4.6 miles (7.4 km) of railroad track and a 1 mile (1.6 km) streetcar loop.
• Monticello Railway Museum - Located in Monticello, Illinois, about 18 miles west of Champaign, Illinois. They operate heritage trains on 15 miles (24 km) of standard gauge track. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger services IL17
• The Silver Creek and Stephenson Railroad. Based in Freeport, Illinois they operate excursion trains on 1.5 miles of track.

Recent and Future Changes

Recent Changes

Chicago "L": The Brown Line towards Kimball has used a flyover north of Belmont since 19 November 2021.

Future Changes

Milwaukee District West Line - The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) are partnering with Union Pacific Railroad and Metra to extend rail services from Elgin Big Timber Road to Rockford. Passenger rail service is anticipated to begin by the end of 2027.

Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services

See USA - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services - Illinois.

Special Notes

None