# Union Pacific Northwest Line

The Union Pacific Northwest Line (UP-NW) is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its surrounding suburbs. While Metra does not refer to any of its lines by colors, the timetable accents for the Union Pacific Northwest Line are bright "Viking Yellow," honoring the Chicago & North Western Railway's Viking passenger train.
The line runs from Ogilvie Transportation Center to Harvard, Illinois. However, most trains terminate in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A branch line to McHenry, Illinois operates during weekday rush hours in the peak direction. Overall, this is Metra's longest route and one of three routes with branches (the others being the Rock Island District and Metra Electric District). The line is Metra's second busiest with an average of 38,600 boardings on a weekday. It is second only to the BNSF Line.
As of February 16, 2024, Metra operates 78 trains (39 in each direction) on the line on weekdays. Of these, 14 inbound trains originate from Harvard, three from McHenry, 13 from Crystal Lake, four from Barrington, one from Palatine, and four from Des Plaines. Five outbound trains terminate at Des Plaines, three at Palatine, three at Barrington, 12 at Crystal Lake, three at McHenry, and 13 at Harvard.
Metra operates 34 trains (17 in each direction) on the line on Saturdays. Of these, 10 inbound trains originate from Harvard, five from Crystal Lake, one from Barrington, and one from Arlington Heights. Two outbound trains terminate at Barrington, five at Crystal Lake, and 10 at Harvard.
Metra operates 21 trains (10 inbound, 11 outbound) on the line on Sundays. Of these, seven inbound trains originate from Harvard, two from Crystal Lake, and one from Arlington Heights. Three outbound trains terminate at Crystal Lake and eight terminate at Harvard.
There is no service at Gladstone Park station or on the McHenry branch on weekends or holidays. All other stations are open daily.
The main line is triple-tracked from Clybourn to just southeast of Barrington, with a bidirectional express track, and double tracked from Barrington to Harvard. The McHenry branch is single-tracked. Historically, double track was maintained from Harvard to Baraboo, Wisconsin. A now-gone portion of the Union Pacific Northwest Line diverged at Harvard and passed through Beloit, Wisconsin, and reconnected to the main line at Evansville junction to allow a separate passenger and freight line. Around the time the Beloit line was abandoned, the railroad single-tracked the line from Harvard to Janesville.
Metra has included the possibility of extending the McHenry branch to Johnsburg in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the branch would open an infill station in Prairie Grove. Additionally, an infill station would open in Ridgefield between Crystal Lake and Woodstock along the line to Harvard.
By the first quarter of 2024, the Union Pacific Railroad is expected to transfer operations of the three Union Pacific lines to Metra. The Union Pacific will continue to own and maintain the right-of-way.

## Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 11,609,358 to 10,384,356, an overall decline of 10.6%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,602,403 passengers in 2020.

## Stations

Download coordinates as:
* KML
* GPX (all coordinates)
* GPX (primary coordinates)
* GPX (secondary coordinates)
| State | County | Zone | Location | Station | Connections and notes |
| WI | Rock | | Evansville | Evansville | Closed 1965 |
| WI | Rock | | Janesville | Janesville | Closed |
| WI | Rock | | Clinton | Clinton | Closed 1966 |
| WI | Walworth | | Sharon | Sharon | Closed 1966 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Harvard | Harvard | Pace: 808 42°25′11.6″N 88°37′3.0″W﻿ / ﻿42.419889°N 88.617500°W﻿ / 42.419889; -88.617500﻿ (Harvard station) |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Hartland | Hartland | Closed 1984 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Woodstock | Woodstock | Pace: 807, 808 42°19′1″N 88°26′53″W﻿ / ﻿42.31694°N 88.44806°W﻿ / 42.31694; -88.44806﻿ (Woodstock station) |
| IL | McHenry | | Ridgefield | Ridgefield | Closed, proposed new stop |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Crystal Lake | Crystal Lake | Pace: 550, 806, 808 42°14′38.8″N 88°19′1.9″W﻿ / ﻿42.244111°N 88.317194°W﻿ / 42.244111; -88.317194﻿ (Crystal Lake station) |
| McHenry branch begins/ends ||
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Crystal Lake | Pingree Road | 42°14′3.1″N 88°17′52.8″W﻿ / ﻿42.234194°N 88.298000°W﻿ / 42.234194; -88.298000﻿ (Pingree Road station) |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Cary | Cary | 42°12′32.4″N 88°14′29.4″W﻿ / ﻿42.209000°N 88.241500°W﻿ / 42.209000; -88.241500﻿ (Cary station) |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Fox River Grove | Fox River Grove | Formerly named Chicago Highlands 42°11′52.4″N 88°13′9.8″W﻿ / ﻿42.197889°N 88.219389°W﻿ / 42.197889; -88.219389﻿ (Fox River Grove station) |
| IL | Cook | 4 | Barrington | Barrington | 42°9′10.4″N 88°7′55.2″W﻿ / ﻿42.152889°N 88.132000°W﻿ / 42.152889; -88.132000﻿ (Barrington station) |
| IL | Cook | 4 | Palatine | Palatine | 42°6′47.2″N 88°2′54.2″W﻿ / ﻿42.113111°N 88.048389°W﻿ / 42.113111; -88.048389﻿ (Palatine station) |
| IL | Cook | 3 | Arlington Heights | Arlington Park | 42°5′43.1″N 88°0′33.1″W﻿ / ﻿42.095306°N 88.009194°W﻿ / 42.095306; -88.009194﻿ (Arlington Park station) |
| IL | Cook | 3 | Arlington Heights | Arlington Heights | 42°5′3.5″N 87°59′1.0″W﻿ / ﻿42.084306°N 87.983611°W﻿ / 42.084306; -87.983611﻿ (Arlington Heights station) |
| IL | Cook | 3 | Mount Prospect | Mount Prospect | Pace: 234 42°3′47.2″N 87°56′10.0″W﻿ / ﻿42.063111°N 87.936111°W﻿ / 42.063111; -87.936111﻿ (Mount Prospect station) |
| IL | Cook | 3 | Des Plaines | Cumberland | Pace: 208, 221, 234 42°3′8.6″N 87°54′43.9″W﻿ / ﻿42.052389°N 87.912194°W﻿ / 42.052389; -87.912194﻿ (Cumberland station) |
| IL | Cook | 3 | Des Plaines | Des Plaines | Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234, 250 Pace Pulse: 101 Dempster Line 42°2′28″N 87°53′13″W﻿ / ﻿42.04111°N 87.88694°W﻿ / 42.04111; -87.88694﻿ (Des Plaines station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Park Ridge | Dee Road | Pace: 209, 226, 240 42°1′26.8″N 87°51′22.3″W﻿ / ﻿42.024111°N 87.856194°W﻿ / 42.024111; -87.856194﻿ (Dee Road station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Park Ridge | Park Ridge | Pace: 209, 241, 290 CTA Bus: 68 42°0′36.7″N 87°49′53.8″W﻿ / ﻿42.010194°N 87.831611°W﻿ / 42.010194; -87.831611﻿ (Park Ridge station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Skokie | Skokie | Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Lincolnwood | Lincolnwood | Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Sauganash | Skokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Peterson | Weber branch; Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Edison Park | CTA Bus: 68 42°0′9.0″N 87°49′4.8″W﻿ / ﻿42.002500°N 87.818000°W﻿ / 42.002500; -87.818000﻿ (Edison Park station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Norwood Park | CTA Bus: 68 41°59′30.5″N 87°47′56.0″W﻿ / ﻿41.991806°N 87.798889°W﻿ / 41.991806; -87.798889﻿ (Norwood Park station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Gladstone Park | CTA Bus: 68 41°58′47.3″N 87°46′40.4″W﻿ / ﻿41.979806°N 87.777889°W﻿ / 41.979806; -87.777889﻿ (Gladstone Park station) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Jefferson Park | Chicago "L": Blue CTA Bus: 56, 68, 81, 81W, 85, 85A, 88, 91, 92 Pace: 225, 226, 270 Pace Pulse: 100 Milwaukee Line 41°58′15.64″N 87°45′45.18″W﻿ / ﻿41.9710111°N 87.7625500°W﻿ / 41.9710111; -87.7625500﻿ (Jefferson Park Transit Center) |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Mayfair | Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Kostner | Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Irving Park | Chicago "L": Blue (at Irving Park) CTA Bus: 53, N53, 54A, 80 41°57′9.0″N 87°43′48.4″W﻿ / ﻿41.952500°N 87.730111°W﻿ / 41.952500; -87.730111﻿ (Irving Park station) |
| IL | Cook | | Chicago | Parkview | Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | | Chicago | Avondale | Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | | Chicago | Maplewood | Closed December 1, 1958 |
| IL | Cook | 2 | Chicago | Clybourn | Metra: ■ Union Pacific North CTA Bus: 9, X9, 73 41°55′1.9″N 87°40′5.5″W﻿ / ﻿41.917194°N 87.668194°W﻿ / 41.917194; -87.668194﻿ (Clybourn station) |
| IL | Cook | 1 | Chicago | Ogilvie Transportation Center | Metra: ■ Union Pacific North, ■ Union Pacific West Chicago "L": Green Pink (at Clinton) CTA Bus: J14, 19, 56, 60, 120, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 157, 192 41°52′57.7″N 87°38′25.1″W﻿ / ﻿41.882694°N 87.640306°W﻿ / 41.882694; -87.640306﻿ (Ogilvie Transportation Center) |

### McHenry branch

The branch, which formerly had service north to Williams Bay, branches off from the main line north of Pingree Road.
| State | County | Zone | Location | Station | Connections and notes |
| WI | Walworth | |
| WI | Walworth | | Williams Bay | Williams Bay | Closed 1966 |
| WI | Walworth | | Lake Geneva | Lake Geneva | Closed 1975 |
| WI | Walworth | | Pell Lake | Pell Lake | Closed 1975 |
| WI | Walworth | | Genoa City | Genoa City | Closed 1975 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Richmond | Richmond | Closed 1980 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Ringwood | Ringwood | Closed 1980 |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Johnsburg | Johnsburg | Proposed new stop |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | McHenry | McHenry | Pace: 806, 807 42°20′36.2″N 88°16′33.6″W﻿ / ﻿42.343389°N 88.276000°W﻿ / 42.343389; -88.276000﻿ (McHenry station) |
| IL | McHenry | 4 | Prairie Grove | Prairie Grove | Proposed new stop |