The Rock Island District (RI) is a
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 ...
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
line from
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
, southwest to
Joliet. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the Rock Island District line are "Rocket Red" in honor of the
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At the end ...
's ''
Rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
'' passenger trains.
History
The Suburban Line was built in 1870 as a
steam dummy line, splitting from the main line just north of 99th Street, running west along 99th and turning south to the present line at the
S-curve just south of 99th. The crossing of the
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway midway along 99th was known as Dummy Crossing. In the early 1890s the line was extended north to 89th Street in conjunction with the expansion of the
Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad, and the portion on 99th was removed.
The track is owned 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. I ...
, bought from the
bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At the end ...
for $35 million in December 1982 (equivalent to $ in ). The
Regional Transportation Authority had signed a contract with the Rock Island in 1976 to fund service, and in 1980 the
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
began operating the Rock Island District (the Rock Island also ceased operations that year.) In
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
1981 the C&NW stepped away, and the
Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation
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. It ...
(Metra) was formed to take over operations. Through freight trains on the line are operated by CSX and Iowa Interstate Railroad on a trackage rights agreement. In addition, Chicago Rail Link has rights to operate local freight service on the whole district, and it also uses the line between Gresham Wye and Blue Island to connect with the Iowa Interstate and Indiana Harbor Belt Railroads.
A new station at 35th Street and Federal Street opened on April 3, 2011 to serve
U.S. Cellular Field
Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and is owned by the state ...
and the
Illinois Institute of Technology. It was named 35th Street/'Lou' Jones/Bronzeville Station after
Lovana Jones
Lovana S. 'Lou' Jones (March 28, 1938 – May 8, 2006) served as an Illinois State Representative for nearly 20 years, and was known for speaking up for abused and neglected children. Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Jones went to Ohio State University. On ...
who was an
Illinois State Representative
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...
in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
The Englewood Flyover, an
overpass
An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...
located in the Chicago neighborhood of
Englewood, eliminated delays for the Rock Island. The overpass replaced a
diamond crossing with the
Norfolk Southern's
Chicago Line. The overpass proposed by
(CREATE), which cost $142 million to construct, was completed in October 2014.
In recent years, Metra has expressed a desire to electrify and modernize the line if funding became available.
Service
As of September 7, 2021, Metra operates 80 trains (40 inbound and 40 outbound) on the Rock Island District on weekdays, with 21 trains providing roundtrip service to and from , three to and from , and 16 to and from . Between Gresham and Blue Island, 17 of the Joliet roundtrips and all three Tinley Park trains operate on the main line, while the other four Joliet roundtrips and all Blue Island short-turn trains operate on the suburban branch.
On Saturdays, Metra operates 33 trains (16 inbound and 17 outbound) on the line, with 10 roundtrips to and from Joliet, six roundtrips to and from Blue Island, and an additional outbound train to Joliet. Of these trains, six Joliet roundtrips operate on the mainline, while the Blue Island short-turn trains as well as four Joliet roundtrips and an additional outbound Joliet train operate via the suburban branch.
On Sundays, Metra operates twenty-eight trains (14 roundtrips), eight to and from Joliet, and six to and from Blue Island. Of these, six of the Joliet roundtrips operate via the main line while the other two Joliet trains as well as all Blue Island short-turns operate via the suburban branch.
The Rock Island District consists of the former Rock Island main line to
Joliet and the slightly longer suburban branch that loops to the west between
Gresham and
Blue Island
Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 ...
. Most trains use the latter; the two stations on that part of the main line are served only during weekday rush hours.
In June 2015, Metra began weekend express service on the Rock Island District. The six express trains that operate on both Saturday and Sunday run express from 35th Street to Blue Island-Vermont Street before making all stops to Joliet, bypassing the suburban branch entirely. Local trains run as well, making all stops on the suburban branch and terminating at Blue Island-Vermont Street. This cuts about 20 minutes off the trips from Blue Island to downtown. On August 23, 2015, Metra announced that the weekend express service would become permanent upon completion of the trial period on November 29, 2015.
The Rock Island District runs a few empty equipment move (deadhead) trains, most during weekdays. Inbound deadheads are scheduled between the Joliet, Mokena-Front Street, and Tinley Park stations and run to Blue Island-Vermont Street.
There have been proposals to extend the line from Joliet to LaSalle-Peru in
LaSalle County
LaSalle County is located within the Fox Valley and Illinois River Valley regions of the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 Census, it had a population of 109,658. Its county seat and largest city is Ottawa. LaSalle County is part of the O ...
with intermediate stations at
Rockdale,
Minooka
Minooka is a village (Illinois), village in Grundy County, Illinois, Grundy, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,924 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 cen ...
,
Morris,
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
,
Marseilles
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, and several other towns. A feasibility study was completed in 2003. As of 2022, an extension only as far as Minooka has been considered feasible in the near future, and there are no currently active plans to carry out the extension.
After the passage of the Rebuild Illinois, $20 million was allocated for the long planned construction of a new station. Construction is expected to start in 2020.
In the beginning of 2021, fares on the Rock Island, as well as the
Metra Electric District
The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fifth ...
, were cut in half for all passengers as part of a pilot program.
Ridership
From 2014-2019 annual ridership declined from 8,544,753 to 7,338,133, an overall decline of 14.1%.
Due to the
Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, ridership dropped to 1,952,547 passengers in 2020 and 1,669,273 passengers in 2021.
Stations
See also
*
Beverly/Morgan Railroad District
Notes
References
*J. David Ingles, Metra: "Best Commuter Train", ''
Trains'' July 1993
External links
*
{{authority control
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Metra lines