Chicago Subdivision

Chicago Subdivision

Amtrak's Carl Sandburg on the Chicago Subdivision in Berwyn, Illinois.
Overview
Type Freight rail
Commuter rail
Inter-city rail
System Northern Transcon
Locale Chicago metropolitan area
Termini Chicago
Aurora, Illinois
Operation
Owner BNSF Railway
Operator(s) BNSF Railway
Metra
Amtrak
Technical
Line length 38 mi (61 km)
Number of tracks 3-4
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Operating speed 70 mph (110 km/h)
Route map
Legend
 west to Aurora Subdivision
to Mendota Subdivision
 Fox River
 mi   Auroraold station
38.4
Aurora Transportation
Center
Metra yard
33.4 Eola, Illinois
 Eola Yard
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern
/ Canadian National
 31.6 Route 59
 28.4 Naperville
 24.4 Lisle
 22.9 Belmont
 21.1 Downers Grove
 20.3 Fairview Avenue
 19.4 Westmont
 18.2 Clarendon Hills
 17.8 West Hinsdale
 16.8 Hinsdale
 16.3 Highlands
 15.4 Western Springs
 14.1 Stone Avenue
 13.7 La Grange
Indiana Harbor
Belt Railroad
13.0 Congress Park

12.3 Brookfield
 11.7 Hollywood
 11.0 Riverside
 10.0 Harlem Avenue
 9.6 Berwyn
 9.0 La Vergne
Illinois Central /
Canadian National
8.5 Clyde
 Cicero Yard
7.0 Cicero
Belt Railway of Chicago
Chicago 'L'  Pink Line 
CR&I Industrial Track
/ Norfolk Southern
3.7 Western Avenue
Western Avenue Yard
1.8 Halsted Street
0.0 Chicago Union Station

The Chicago Subdivision or Chicago Sub is a railroad line in Illinois that runs about 38 miles (61 km) from Chicago to Aurora and hosts Metra's BNSF Railway Line commuter service. It is operated by BNSF Railway as the easternmost part of the railroad's Northern Transcon to Seattle, Washington.[1][2][3][4] This line is known as the Racetrack because it is mostly triple-tracked and supports fairly fast trains. It had been operated by a BNSF ancestor, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which introduced high-speed Zephyr passenger trains in 1934 and ran many of them along this subdivision from Chicago to points west.

The Chicago Subdivision meets the Aurora Subdivision and Mendota Subdivision in Aurora. Commuter service ends at the Aurora Transportation Center, though Amtrak trains continue southwest on the Mendota Subdivision. Triple-tracking runs from where track leading to the Aurora station and Metra Yard joins the subdivision eastward to Cicero, where multiple tracks from a yard join. It is then quadruple-tracked for the rest of the way until the turn to Union Station.[5] As of 2015 weekday traffic on the subdivision was 94 Metra commuter trains, eight Amtrak intercity trains, and 60 BNSF freight trains.[6]

After the introduction of the CB&Q Zephyrs, train speeds increased significantly around the country for the next decade or so, but the Naperville train disaster along these tracks in 1946 was one event that contributed to the federal government restricting speeds in later years. Trains that had once traveled at or above 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) were soon restricted to a maximum of 79 miles per hour (127 km/h).[7][8][9] Much of this line has a speed limit of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) for passenger trains, while freight trains run slower.[1][2][3][4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Don Winter. "Eola to Aurora". Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Don Winter. "La Grange to Eola (ex-CB&Q)". Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Don Winter. "Cicero to La Grange (ex-CB&Q)". Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Don Winter. "Western Avenue to Cicero (ex-CB&Q)". Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ Bill Vandervoort. "Railfan tips/operating detail". Chicago Transit & Railfan. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  6. ↑ Blaszak, Michael W. (March 2015). "Metra mojo". Trains. 75 (3): 53.
  7. ↑ William Wendt (July 30, 2007). "Hiawatha dieselization". Yahoo Groups. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  8. ↑ John Gruber and Brian Solomon (2006). The Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2395-3.
  9. ↑ "Ask Trains from November 2008". Trains Magazine. December 23, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2010.


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