Mars 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 ...

Milwaukee District West Line The Milwaukee District West Line (MD-W) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to any of its lines by a particular color, but the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District West line a ...

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

. The station is away from

Chicago Union Station Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...

, the eastern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Mars is in zone B. As of 2018, Mars is the 175th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 144 weekday boardings. As of December 12, 2022, Mars is served as a

flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

by 14 trains (eight inbound, six outbound) on weekdays only. Mars station consists of three tracks and two side platforms. The middle track has no platform, so stopping trains must use the outer tracks. Metra's

North Central Service The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In June 2018, the public timetable shows 10 weekday departures from C ...

trains use the tracks but do not stop. The station is named for the

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021. Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest priva ...

candy factory located on Oak Park Avenue in the Galewood neighborhood, right behind the station. The

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatories ...

's Rutherford Sayre Park immediately sits west of the station. A Shriners children's hospital sits to the north of the station.

References

External links

Station from Oak Park Avenue from Google Maps Street View
Metra stations in Chicago Former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1956 {{Chicago-railstation-stub