Western Avenue

Chicago, Italy

Western Avenue is a railroad station owned by Metra, located in the West Town community area of Chicago, Illinois near Western Avenue. The station is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) away from Union Station, the inbound terminus of the line. Western Avenue station serves the Milwaukee District West Line, North Ce

ntral Service, and Milwaukee District North Line, and is the last inbound stop for these three lines before the terminus at Union Station. Although it is not a station stop, Amtrak's Hiawatha, Borealis, and the Empire Builder also pass through here. The station was previously used by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Located near the station are the California Coach Yard, and the Western Avenue Rail Yard, the latter of which host to Metra's remaining EMD F40Cs. Just southeast of the station platforms is a diamond where the Milwaukee Road Metra routes cross the tracks of the Union Pacific West Line to Ogilvie Transportation Center, then turn to run parallel to them. This goes on for about a mile before they split, as the West Line tracks continue to Ogilvie. The junction is controlled by the nearby A-2 tower.

Listen to the audio guide for Western Avenue Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off