Evanston Central Street is the northernmost of the three commuter railroad stations in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

. It is an elevated station at Green Bay Road and Central Street, surrounded by a neighborhood of stores, restaurants and multi-story apartment buildings. Just north of the station, the tracks descend to grade and pass through

Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

on ground level. Evanston Central Street station is served by

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. ...

Union Pacific North Line The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra line in the Chicago metropolitan area. It runs between Ogilvie Transportation Center and Kenosha, Wisconsin; however, most trains terminate in Waukegan, Illinois. Although Metra owns the rolling sto ...

, with service south to

Ogilvie Transportation Center The Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center (; formerly Chicago and North Western Terminal) is a commuter rail terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is the terminus for the three commuter rail lines of Metra's Union Pacific District to Chica ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and as far north as

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

. The station is from Ogilvie Transportation Center. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Evanston Central Street is in zone C. As of 2018, Evanston Central Street is the 27th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 1,346 weekday boardings. There are two platforms: northbound trains stop at the west platform, and southbound trains stop at the east platform. Evanston Central Street has a station house on the east platform. The station house contains a ticket booth as well as a coffee and pastry shop named "Upstairs Cafe" owned and run by three Evanston women, two of whom are professional bakers. The station house is open from 5:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and a ticket agent is present during these hours on weekdays. As of December 5, 2022, Evanston Central St. is served by 59 trains (30 inbound and 29 outbound) on weekdays, by 11 trains in each direction on Saturdays, and by eight trains in each direction on Sundays. During the summer concert season, the extra weekend train to also stops here. This is the closest Metra station to

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's sports complex at Ryan Field. The 15th hole fairway and 16th hole tee box of the

Canal Shores Golf Course Canal Shores Golf Course, (formerly known as the Peter N. Jans Memorial Golf Course and the Evanston Wilmette Community Golf Course) is an 82-acre, 18-hole, par 60 golf course located in a suburban residential neighborhood on the east side of Evan ...

adjoin this Metra station. The

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , ...

's Central station on the Purple Line is less than a mile to the east.

Bus connections

CTA * 201 Central/Ridge * 206 Evanston Circulator Pace * 213 Green Bay Road

References

External links

*
Lincoln Street entrance from Google Maps Street ViewCentral Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{coord, 42.063964, N, 87.698041, W, type:railwaystation, display=title Metra stations in Illinois Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations Central Street (Metra) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Union Pacific North Line