The Southwest Service (SWS) 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. ...
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, running southwest 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 ...
in downtown
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, subdivision_name ...
, to
Manhattan, Illinois
Manhattan is a village in Will County, Illinois. The population was 9,385 at the time of the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population to be 10,037 . The community is located in northeastern Illinois approximately 50 miles (80&nb ...
. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the SouthWest Service line are "Banner Blue," for the
Wabash Railroad
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary co ...
's ''Banner Blue''
passenger train. The trackage is owned by Metra north of a junction with the
Belt Railway of Chicago
The Belt Railway Company of Chicago , headquartered in Bedford Park, IL, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by six Class I railroads — BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific R ...
at Loomis Boulevard, and is leased from
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
south of the junction (NS has
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...
over Metra's portion).
History
The line south of the curve at the east end of the section aligned with 75th Street was built by the
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...
, which opened in 1880 to Chicago. That curve was a junction with the
Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad
The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their own ...
, of which the Wabash owned one-fifth, and used to reach
Dearborn Station
Dearborn Station (also referred to as Polk Street Depot) was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at ...
in downtown Chicago. Commuter service from Chicago began as early as 1893, with trains running as far south as
Orland Park
Orland Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. The village is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, Orland Park had a population of 58,703.
Located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago ...
,
and by 1909, the service had been extended with several trains operating as far south as
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The level of service deteriorated in the 1930s, with commuter operations effectively reduced to one train in each direction making local stops from Chicago to
Decatur. By 1964, the once daily Chicago–Decatur trains were cut back to Orland Park.
After several reorganizations the
Wabash Railroad
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary co ...
was leased by the
Norfolk and Western Railway on October 16, 1964.
The single round trip continued under the new ownership, who named the train the ''Orland Park Cannonball''.
On May 1, 1971,
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 ...
assumed control of most intercity passenger trains in the United States. On this date all intercity services operating into and out of Chicago were either routed into
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 ...
or discontinued, leaving the single Orland Park Cannonball as the only train to still use Dearborn Station. Dearborn Station closed, but the commuter train continued to use a small platform and track on the property until 1976 when it relocated to Union Station via a new connection at
Alton Junction
The Alton Junction, more commonly known as the 21st Street Crossing, is a historically significant rail location in Chicago, Illinois. The junction can be found just east of Canal Street and north of Cermak Road near Chicago's Chinatown. It is lo ...
.
The
Regional Transportation Authority began to subsidize the service in 1978. N&W merged with
Southern Railway to form the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
in 1982, and for the next decade the line was known as the Norfolk Southern Line (NS). The RTA closed the
Western Avenue station on May 15, 1984, as part of a cost reduction plan which saw the closure of twelve other lightly used stations and the removal of ticket agents from an additional seventeen stations across the system. On June 1, 1993 Metra took over operations and renamed it the SouthWest Service.
The rail line expansion project, which includes of new track and at least two additional train stations, was completed (except for the Laraway Road station) in January 2006. The number of trains per day was doubled from 16 to 30, 15 in each direction. For years,
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 ...
operated Route 835, whose bus service enhanced the limited train service in the SouthWest Service corridor. With the rail service expansion, ridership on route 835 became so poor that Pace eliminated it on August 17, 2007.
Metra started Saturday service on March 21, 2009, with six trains between Union Station and Manhattan.
SouthWest Service trains will shift from Union Station to
LaSalle Street Station
LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. First used as a rail terminal in 1852, it was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968, and for the Chicago, ...
with the reconfiguration of the 75th Street Corridor under the auspices of the
(CREATE).
This will happen no earlier than 2025 when construction is scheduled for completion. Additional mainline trackage will also be built between LaSalle St Station and 74th to handle the increase in traffic. LaSalle Street station will also be expanded. This would relieve congestion at Union Station and improve reliability for the SouthWest Service, as well as allowing more trains to run in each direction.
Service frequency
As of July 12, 2021, Metra operates 12 trains (six in each direction) on the SouthWest Service Line on weekdays. Of these, two inbound trains originate from and four from . Three outbound trains terminate at Orland Park 179th Street, and three terminate at Manhattan. One of the trains that travels beyond 179th Street serves and Manhattan as "flag to discharge" stops.
Since March 2020 and as of January 2023, Saturday service on the SouthWest Service is currently suspended. There is also no service on Sundays or holidays.
The Laraway Road and Manhattan stations see a combined ridership of under 60 people daily, making them two of the least-used stations on Metra's system.
Ridership
Since 2014 annual ridership has declined from 2,659,040 to 2,356,767, an overall decline of 11.4%.
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 574,815 passengers in 2020.
Stations
References
External links
Metra SouthWest Service Information
{{Metra
Metra lines
Wabash Railroad
Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway