The Aurora Transportation Center is a station on
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines. I ...
's
BNSF Line
The BNSF Line (also known informally as the "Racetrack") is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of t ...
in
Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...
. The station is from
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
, the east end of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Aurora is in zone H. As of 2018, Aurora is the 13th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 1,856 weekday boardings.
There is a staffed station building. Just north of the station is the Hill Yard, a large coach yard used to store the Metra trains on the
BNSF Line
The BNSF Line (also known informally as the "Racetrack") is a Metra commuter rail line operated by the BNSF Railway in Chicago and its western suburbs. In 2010, the BNSF Line continued to have the highest weekday ridership (average 64,600) of t ...
. Aurora is a stub-track
terminal
Terminal may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together
* Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line
* Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...
, which means the Metra tracks end here. Amtrak and BNSF freights use the two tracks east of the station.
Aurora is the west end of the BNSF Railway Line and is served by numerous
Pace
Pace or paces may refer to:
Business
*Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US
* Pace Airlines, an American charter airline
*Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...
bus routes. It served as a
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
bus stop until September 7, 2011.
History
The station replaced the former Aurora Depot, at the corners of South Broadway and Washington Street. The station was constructed in 1922 by the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...
and closed in 1986. It was also served by
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
and Metra trains until the opening of the Aurora Transportation Center. The building was torn down in April 2013.
Amtrak service shifted to
Naperville station
Naperville is a train station in Naperville, Illinois, served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system. Amtrak trains stopping at the Naperville station include the ''California Zephyr'', ''Illinois Zephyr'', ''Carl Sandburg'' and ''Sout ...
, and continue to stop presently.
Bus connections
Pace
Pace or paces may refer to:
Business
*Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US
* Pace Airlines, an American charter airline
*Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...
* 524 West Aurora
* 530 West Galena/Naperville
* 533 Northeast Aurora
* 802 Aurora/Geneva via Lake
References
External links
*
Metra stations in Illinois
Buildings and structures in Aurora, Illinois
Transportation in Aurora, Illinois
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1986
Bus stations in Illinois
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