NEW LENOX, IL — Severe weather has forced Metra to delay a previously announced closure of its Rock Island Line by a week.
The closure will now begin the night of Friday, Aug. 28, Metra said. Service is expected to be restored in time for the Monday morning rush on Aug. 30.
The last outbound Rock Island mainline train from Chicago to Joliet (Train 511) will depart LaSalle Street Station at 8:25 p.m., Friday, Aug. 28 making all stops with the exception of 95th Street/Longwood, 103rd Street/Washington Heights on the mainline and 123rd Street and Prairie Street on the Beverly Branch. For inbound service, the last train (Train 512) will depart Joliet at 6:25 p.m.
The outage is necessitated by the construction of the new Auburn Park Station at 79th Street in Chicago. As part of the new station project, the Metra bridges above the Norfolk Southern freight tracks at that location need to be raised. This outage will enable the first phase of this bridge lift. Future weekend outages are required to complete this project and will be announced at a later date.
During the outage, the Metra Electric Line may be a good alternative for some customers, while the CTA's Red Line may be an alternative for customers traveling between 95th Street and downtown Chicago.
The Metra Electric's Blue Island Branch provides service on Saturdays between Blue Island and Chicago's Millennium Station. In addition, the Metra Electric Line connects with multiple Pace bus routes serving the line's Harvey Station. CTA bus routes also provide connections between multiple stations on the Rock Island's Beverly Branch, the Metra Electric, and the CTA Red Line. Riders can plan a trip that meets their specific needs by using the RTA trip planner at rtachicago.org or by calling RTA Travel Information at 312-836-7000.
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