Heritage Corridor

The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as "Alton Maroon," after the Alton Railroad, which ran trains on this route. The name Heritage Corridor refers to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage Corridor. Established in 1984, it runs parallel to the line.

Heritage Corridor
Heritage Corridor inbound train preparing to board passengers at Joliet station in Joliet, Illinois
Overview
Owner	Canadian National
Termini	Chicago Union Station Joliet
Stations	7
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Metra, Canadian National
Daily ridership	2,400 (Avg. Weekday 2016)
Ridership	252,907 (2023)
Technical
Line length	37.3 mi (60.0 km)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Heritage Corridor highlighted in maroon NCS to Antioch MD-W to Big Timber Road MD-N to Fox Lake 0 mi Union Station Blue BNSF to Aurora Chicago River (south branch) IC West Line to Randolph Street Station SWS to Manhattan Orange to the Loop I-90 / I-94 2.6 mi 4.2 km Halsted Street | Halsted Bubbly Creek I-55 IC West Line to Addison Orange to Midway Western Avenue Corridor 5.2 mi 8.4 km Brighton Park BNSF Railway Belt Railway of Chicago 10.3 mi 16.6 km Glenn 11.9 mi 19.2 km Summit Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad I-294 Mt. Forest 17.5 mi 28.2 km Willow Springs Cal-Sag Channel Lambert 25.3 mi 40.7 km Lemont I-355 29.2 mi 47 km Romeoville 31.7 mi 51 km 5th Street 32.9 mi 52.9 km Lockport EJ&E Railway State Prison RI to LaSalle Street 37.3 mi 60 km Joliet CSX Transportation Amtrak to St. Louis, San Antonio, and Los Angeles Mileage source All stations are accessible   Key Heritage Corridor Other Metra lines Other freight lines CTA lines

For the public park system, see National Heritage Corridor.

Unlike other Metra lines, the Heritage Corridor runs during weekday rush hours only in the peak direction–to Chicago in the morning and Joliet in the afternoon, with the trip from Joliet to Union Station taking about 1 hour and 7 minutes. The Rock Island District also serves Joliet with 21 trains.

As of February 15, 2024, Metra operates six trains (three in each direction) on the Heritage Corridor on weekdays, with each train serving all stations on the route. All inbound trains originate from Joliet in the morning, and all outbound trains terminate at Joliet in the afternoon. Except for occasional seasonal excursion services, there is no Saturday service. There is currently no off-peak, Sunday, or holiday service on the Heritage Corridor.

The Heritage Corridor has the lowest train frequency and fewest number of stations of any other Metra line.

Like the North Central Service and the SouthWest Service, all stations on the route are fully ADA-accessible.

Route

The line runs from Union Station in downtown Chicago through southwestern suburbs to Joliet. In March 2016, the public timetable shows four Chicago to Joliet trains each weekday. An additional train runs inbound during the afternoon rush hour but as an empty equipment move or deadhead.

Amtrak's Texas Eagle and Lincoln Service use these tracks from Union Station to Joliet, as do Canadian National freight trains, with CN being the owner of the tracks on which the corridor runs. The Texas Eagle only stops at Chicago and Joliet, while the Lincoln Service also stops at Summit. The Joliet Transportation Center replaced Joliet Union Station on April 11, 2018.

On May 16, 2017, Metra announced that the new station for Romeoville had officially broken ground near the intersection of 135th St and New Avenue. The cost of the new station is estimated to be around $4.9 million. The station was opened to the public on February 5, 2018.

Metra has included the possibility of extending the Heritage Corridor in their Cost Benefit Analysis report. If this were to happen, the Heritage Corridor would continue south from Joliet to Wilmington, with an additional station in Elwood.

Stations

County	Zone	Location	Station	Connections and notes
Cook	1	Chicago	Union Station	Amtrak (long-distance): California Zephyr, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Floridian, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle Amtrak (intercity): Blue Water, Borealis, Hiawatha, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine Metra: ■ BNSF, ■ Milwaukee District North, ■ Milwaukee District West, ■ North Central Service, ■ SouthWest Service Chicago "L": Blue (at Clinton), Brown Orange Pink Purple (at Quincy) CTA Bus: 1, 7, J14, 19, 28, 56, 60, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 151, 156, 157, 192 Pace Bus: 755 Amtrak Thruway: Chicago–Madison and Chicago–Rockford (Van Galder), Chicago–Louisville (Greyhound)
			23rd Street	Closed 1902, replaced with Halsted Street
			Halsted Street	Closed 1984
			Brighton Park	Closed 1984
		Central Stickney	Glenn	Closed 1989
	2	Summit	Summit	Amtrak: Lincoln Service Pace Bus: 307
		Willow Springs	Mt. Forest	Closed
	3		Willow Springs	Pace Bus: 390
		Lemont	Lambert	Closed
	3		Lemont	Pace Bus: 755
Will	4	Romeoville	Romeoville	Pace Bus: 755
		Lockport	5th Street	Closed 1988
	4		Lockport	Pace Bus: 755, 834
		Joliet	State Prison	Closed
	4		Joliet	Amtrak: Lincoln Service, Texas Eagle Metra: ■ Rock Island Pace Bus: 501, 504, 505, 507, 508, 509, 511, 832, 834

Ridership

Between 2014 and 2019 annual ridership remained steady at roughly 730,000. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership dropped to 177,838 passengers in 2020 and to 82,197 passengers in 2021.

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Excursion service

Metra has offered "Rails, Trails, and Ales" excursion service on Saturdays in the fall of 2021; 2023; and 2024, and the summer of 2022. In 2021, two trains in each direction made all stops between Union Station and Joliet from September 18 to October 16. In 2022, three trains in each direction made all stops between Union Station and Joliet from July 2 to September 3. In 2023, three trains in each direction made all stops between Union Station and Joliet from September 9 to October 14. In 2024, three trains in each direction made all stops between Union Station and Joliet from September 7 to October 12.

References

• Baty, Chris (2004). Chicago. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74104-032-9.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Heritage Corridor

KML is from Wikidata

• Heritage Corridor Archived 2015-10-07 at the Wayback Machine service schedule