The Union Pacific Northwest Line (UP-NW) is a commuter rail line operated by Metra in the Chicago metropolitan area. The line runs from Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago to Harvard, Illinois. However, most trains terminate in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A branch line to McHenry, Illinois operates during weekday rush hours in the peak direction. Since May 2025, the service is operated directly by Metra. Previously, it was operated by the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) under a purchase-of-service agreement. UP continues to own the tracks and manage dispatching as part of its Harvard and McHenry Subdivisions.

The line was historically owned and operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW), until it merged with UP in 1995. While Metra does not refer to any of its lines by colors, the timetable accents for the UP-NW are bright "Viking Yellow," honoring the C&NW's Viking passenger train.

Overall, this is Metra's longest route and one of three routes with branches (the others being the Rock Island District and Metra Electric District). The line is Metra's second-busiest with an average of 38,600 boardings on a weekday. It is second only to the BNSF Line.

Service As of February 16, 2024, Metra operates 78 trains (39 in each direction) on the line on weekdays. Of these, 14 inbound trains originate from , three from , 13 from , four from , one from , and four from . Five outbound trains terminate at Des Plaines, three at Palatine, three at Barrington, 12 at Crystal Lake, three at McHenry, and 13 at Harvard.

Metra operates 34 trains (17 in each direction) on the line on Saturdays. Of these, 10 inbound trains originate from Harvard, five from Crystal Lake, one from Barrington, and one from . Two outbound trains terminate at Barrington, five at Crystal Lake, and 10 at Harvard.

Metra operates 21 trains (10 inbound, 11 outbound) on the line on Sundays. Of these, seven inbound trains originate from Harvard, two from Crystal Lake, and one from Arlington Heights. Three outbound trains terminate at Crystal Lake and eight terminate at Harvard.

There is no service at station or on the McHenry branch on weekends or holidays. All other stations are open daily.

The main line is triple-tracked from to just southeast of Barrington, with a bidirectional express track, and double tracked from Barrington to Harvard. The McHenry branch is single-tracked. Historically, double track was maintained from Harvard to Baraboo, Wisconsin. A now-gone portion of the Union Pacific Northwest Line diverged at Harvard and passed through Beloit, Wisconsin, and reconnected to the main line at Evansville junction to allow a separate passenger and freight line. Around the time the Beloit line was abandoned, the railroad single-tracked the line from Harvard to Janesville.

All stations along the triple-tracked portion of the line have a side platform serving the inbound track and an island platform serving the express and outbound tracks, the only exception being , which only has two side platforms and does not serve trains running through the express track.

Metra has included the possibility of extending the McHenry branch to Johnsburg in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the branch would open an infill station in Prairie Grove. Additionally, an infill station would open in Ridgefield between Crystal Lake and Woodstock along the line to Harvard.

Beginning in 2023, the Union Pacific Railroad announced that commuter operations on all three of the Union Pacific lines would be transferred to Metra; the Union Pacific would continue to own and maintain the right-of-way. The transfer was initially expected to occur by Q1 2024; however, it was delayed by a year to May 16, 2025.

Since 2023, Metra has been working on a project to build a new layover rail yard in Woodstock. The new yard will consolidate the operations from the Barrington and Crystal Lake yards. It will have seven storage tracks that will have the capacity of holding 14 train sets along with two equipment storage tracks. The new yard will allow for the expansion of service on the UP-NW. Construction is expected to begin in 2029 with 2031 as a projected completion date, pending funding availability.

Ridership Between 2014 and 2019, annual ridership declined from 11,609,358 to 10,384,356, an overall decline of 10.6%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 2,602,403 passengers in 2020. The line's 5,721,102 riders in 2025 made it the second busiest Metra line

Stations StateCountyZoneLocationStationConnections and notesWIRock EvansvilleEvansvilleClosed 1965JanesvilleJanesvilleClosedClintonClintonClosed 1966WalworthSharonSharonClosed 1966ILMcHenry4Harvard Pace: 808HartlandClosed 1984Woodstock Pace: 807, 808RidgefieldRidgefieldClosed, proposed new stop4Crystal Lake Pace: 550, 806, 808McHenry branch begins/endsCaryFox River GroveFormerly named Chicago HighlandsCookBarringtonPalatine3Arlington HeightsMount Prospect Pace: 234Des Plaines Pace: 208, 221, 234 Pace Pulse: Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234, 2502Park Ridge Pace: 209, 226, 240 Pace: 209, 241, 290 CTA buses: SkokieSkokieSkokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958LincolnwoodLincolnwoodSkokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958ChicagoSauganashSkokie branch; Closed December 1, 1958PetersonWeber branch; Closed December 1, 1958 CTA buses: CTA buses: CTA buses: Jefferson Park Chicago "L":

CTA buses: Pace: 225, 226, 270MayfairClosed December 1, 1958KostnerClosed December 1, 1958 Chicago "L": (at ) CTA buses:  ParkviewClosed December 1, 1958AvondaleClosed December 1, 1958MaplewoodClosed December 1, 19582 : CTA buses: 1OgilvieTransportationCenter Metra: , Chicago "L": (at ) CTA buses:

McHenry branch The branch, which formerly had service north to Williams Bay, branches off from the main line north of . StateCountyZoneLocationStationConnections and notesWIWalworth Williams BayWilliams BayClosed 1966Lake GenevaLake GenevaClosed 1975Pell LakePell LakeClosed 1975Genoa CityGenoa CityClosed 1975ILMcHenry4RichmondRichmondClosed 1980RingwoodRingwoodClosed 1980JohnsburgJohnsburgProposed new stopMcHenry Pace: 806, 807Prairie GrovePrairie GroveProposed new stop

References

External links

Metra Union Pacific/Northwest service schedule