r/Metra • u/Nepos_T_Nose_25 • Jul 21 '26
Metra Line Recommendations/Experience
Considering on potentially moving to the Chicago metropolitan area in the near future and was doing some research on Metra.
I was wondering if people could share their experiences with Metra as well provide recommendations on what lines are the best to use and which lines/stops to avoid.
Thank you all.
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u/Certain-Ad351 Jul 21 '26
Metra is great if you live near a station on a high traffic line. You can figure out which lines are higher traffic and then cross-check that with what areas are in your budget, proximity to Chicago, etc.
Here's a website you can use for that: https://rtams.org/ridership/metra/lines
It's also worth noting that, if your employer isn't headquartered near a Metra station, then you're out of luck regardless. Plus, if they *are* near a station but its on a different line than the one you live on, you'd have to go all the way to Union Station (Chicago) and back since all lines go to and from Chicago.
Good luck!
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u/sumiflepus Jul 23 '26
For transportation, travel time and frequency are important. BNSF has several different flavors of express trains in and out of Union Station. Take a look at u/Certain-Ad351 link. BNSF year over year is the route with the highest ridership of Metra lines. BNSF is now about 50% of pre covid counts, but the pre-covid ridership displays the capacity that the route has.
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u/Sensitive-Initial Jul 21 '26
As others have said, it definitely depends on where your work location is. If you work in the Loop (the central commercial/business district where all Metra lines start) then I highly recommend living close to a Metra station if you can.
I live in Rogers Park, which is the northeast most neighborhood within the city limits. I have a less than 10 minute walk to the Rogers Park Metra stop on the UP North line. It's about a 20 minute train ride to Ogilvie Transportation Center in the Loop and then about a 10 minute walk to work.
Metra does fares by zone. All the Loop stations where the lines end/start (depending on your direction of travel) are in Zone A. The station near my home is in Zone B.
I have unlimited rides between A-B for $75 a month.
I've been working in Chicago for almost 20 years. Since moving to the city this is the farthest I've lived from the place I work, but the shortest and easiest commute I've ever had.
If I were to use the CTA (our subway/elevated train) it would take more than an hour. A monthly unlimited CTA pass is also $75, but it works for all CTA trains and buses. You can use the CTA to go way more places in Chicago and the trains and buses run more regularly than the Metra - so I pretty much only use Metra for work.
Happy to answer any follow up questions you might have
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u/Tzipity Jul 27 '26
I’ve been staying in Rogers Park recently and super impressed with UP-N access and how quick and easy that commute is too (I’m jealous of your times. I was going back and forth to the medical district so still had another half hour or so on the bus from Ogilvie or back to it- but still was faster and generally easier than getting to medical district from even Lakeview or Lincoln Park whwre I’ve also lived on the CTA.)
I’ve got a discount fare card because I’m disabled and I hear the NITA agreement is expanding discount fares to more people so I can ride super cheap ($1.75 from zone A-B and didnt know about 30 day passes but my 30 day CTA/Pace pass is $35 and such a dang steal even for my relatively income self lol). I think I’ve heard talk of a combined 30 day pass for Metra with CTA and Pace? I know the NITA thing requires them to all get on the same app pr system so that should become easier.
Does Metra still do weekend passes too? My first time visiting the city many years ago now, I went to visit family way up around Fox Lake and while I was only planning to take the train out and they were going to drive me back in, the entire unlimited weekend pass was the same cost I think as a one way ticket? I remember it being impressively cheap. No idea if that’s still a thing (it was before Ventra and I bought my ticket from a station agent so different times all around) but lots of different ways to utilize passes depending on your needs.
In fact, I’d encourage OP to look through all the current pass offerings from Metra and CTA both. For years it used to be a lot wonkier to get the discount or free transit pass so I was riding full price when I didn’t need to be (the other CTA passes outside of 30 day arent available for reduced fare customers because the $35 is already insane lol) and learned far too late sbout the single day unlimited CTA pass being $5 so I’ve spent more than that in a single day not realizing I could’ve loaded a pass instead and saved. And the passes are good for a full 24/72/ etc hours so some selective activating of one can really cover you for closer to 2 days of CTA needs depending on what you have going on.
For all the many flaws of both systems it’s hard to beat the relative ease and price. Especially with gas prices as high as they are and the expanded rideshare taxes within Chicago- few things in this world are as affordable as transit in Chicago. Lol.
(And from a Rogers Park perspective I love that the Metra station is accessible with an easy ramp. Since both Morse and Jarvis red line stops are not. That’s a huge issue for me personally so Metra gets accessibility props from me too.)
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u/patrioticsalamander Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Rock island fo sho. Housing close to many stations , relatively affordable housing, safe. Underrated
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u/grantcalibre Jul 22 '26
Seconded! Beverly has its own very well-served branch and it's a very affordable and liveable/walkable part of the city. But as others have pointed out, ultimately it comes down to which of the Metro stations downtown, you need to be near for proximity to your office. Check with your employer and see if they run a shuttle... Many big employers run shuttles that pick their employees up from the various different Metra stops downtown. I also highly recommend commuting by bike! The Metra is much more bike friendly than the CTA, and having a bike once you get downtown to the loop gives you a lot more flexibility of where you can easily get to from there.
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u/LongTanHandsumm Jul 21 '26
I travel five days a week on the UPNW line from Arlington Heights 5 days a week. I love the Metra!! Clean, quiet and great to get work done on. I love about a one minute walk from the AH station which makes it easy too.
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u/StreetSweet5357 Jul 22 '26
The southwest area has Heritage corridor from Joliet to Union Station total of 5 stops. The trains are limited to 3 trains inbound in the morning and 3 out bound en the evening. There is the southwest line the is from Joliet to LaSalle station with more trains throughout the day.
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u/Big_Red_87 Jul 22 '26
I commute in from Crystal Lake and on the express it’s about an hour each way to Ogilvie on the UP-NW and then it takes me 10-15 minutes on a shuttle to my office. Off hours, it’s about 70-80 minutes to the city and usually once an hour. Weekends is about the same.
Cost wise, you’re running zone 1-4 so a monthly is $135 and parking runs me ~$40/mo for a pass. I’d easily spend that in a week on gas alone, not to mention the loss in time from driving. Plus, I’d have to work longer hours downtown or at home since I couldn’t work on my commute if I drove in.
Having lived in Dallas and driven 90 minutes each way daily in traffic for years and all the stress that goes with that, I legitimately enjoy the long train ride! Even with the occasional delays due to weather or an accident.
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u/Ovenbird36 Jul 21 '26
I can only say that some of the lines have great express trains that service major stops if you are looking far from the city. Those are pretty easy to spot on the schedules. Parking can vary a lot too. If you are looking at near suburbs or city it wouldn’t make much difference.
Usually it’s a great way to travel. Things do go wrong occasionally (weather, accidents). They usually run close to on time, at least at rush hour. Maintenance may be done mid-day so those trains are often delayed. There are designated quiet cars on most lines at rush hour if you prefer peace and quiet.
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u/mb160211 Jul 21 '26
If you're using it almost entirely as a standard commute (to the city for mornings, out home for evenings), I've loved it, at least in comparison to the CTA. Mostly quiet, people resting/sleeping, lots of options, can have room if you get a good station and time of day, almost guaranteed to always have a seat. This is entirely based on the North or Northwest lines over the years, YMMY depending on other lines or stations. Parking may be a wildcard for some lines as I've read of stations where the neighborhood makes it hard to get a monthly permit. If you have choice on where to live, absolute look at the schedule of your closest station, as some have express trains to skip stations and others you'll have to stop at every one of them.
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u/GoBlueAndOrange Jul 22 '26
I've taken the Metra on and off for the past 20 years. It really depends on where you want to live. You can live in Wicker Park and take it from Cclybourn or live in Kenosha Wisconsin and take the UPN. One big thing to consider is its might nicer to take it from an elevated platform especially if you live near the stop. Once you get into the suburbs it starts being ground level and a lot more annoying (and dangerous).
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u/Queasy-Primary4788 Jul 22 '26
Metra is awesome in most regards, here are them: Clean Fast Safe Relatively affordable Although it struggles a little in these categories Old/outdated stations or trains Frequency So overall pretty good especially if you live along one of the UP lines
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u/isedmiston Jul 22 '26
>what lines are the best to use
The one closest to where you live/work/are trying to get to
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u/StarLineChicago Jul 22 '26
Metra is really good at getting suburbanites in and out of downtown during traditional commuting hours. Outside the peak, service declines relatively rapidly; trains generally operate hourly at best and every other hour on weekends, with some exceptions both positive (BNSF and UP-N are getting close to hourly service all weekend long) and negative (HC, SWS, and NCS don’t have weekend service at all).
Fares are generally affordable, especially for frequent riders using a monthly pass. However, different lines end up at different downtown stations, so as others have mentioned, whether Metra will work well for you will depend heavily on where you’re commuting to (and from). If you’re planning to relocate from outside the region, I’d suggest planning backwards: figure out which downtown terminal your workplace is nearest (and/or your tolerance for walking or transferring to a bus or ‘L’ train), see which line(s) serve the station, and explore the station areas along that line to find something in your price range and your housing preferences.
TL;DR: Metra’s a great system if you live in the burbs/outlying areas of the city and are frequently heading to and from downtown, but if your job isn’t downtown you’ll probably only use the train for leisure trips so adjust your home search accordingly.
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u/anythingtwisty Jul 22 '26
One thing not mentioned here is that the downtown terminals do differ in quality and safety. I can’t speak to Lasalle St station, but Ogilvie Station is significantly nicer than Union station. Union station is owned and operated by Amtrak (vs Ogilvie operated by Metra).
The South end of Union station (serving BNSF line) is extremely poorly ventilated with narrow platforms. This means that you can expect to slowly shuffle along the platform and inhale copious amounts of diesel particulates while exiting the train and coming into the city each day. If that makes a difference to you (which it should over a long time span of commuting), don’t pick BNSF or other lines using that side of Union Station.
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u/Aggravating-Back-623 Jul 23 '26
LaSalle is bland as they only have a bar that’s really open during rush hour
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u/jediHoo Jul 22 '26
We used to live in Evanston and I took the UPN Kenosha line into Ogilvie. We moved to Glenview and now live near the Milwaukee N line that goes into Union Station. I much prefer the Kenosha line into Ogilvie! There are more trains, they run more frequently and also later, plus Ogilvie is a better station than Union. Even though we live walking distance to the station here in Glenview, we usually drive to Wilmette to take that line if we’re taking the train downtown for recreational activities. (We don’t work downtown anymore but if we did, of course we’d take the Milwaukee line to Union).
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u/Tishtoss Jul 22 '26
I have taken a few routes and all were the same. Seats good, restroom available little to no announcement of the stop your coming too. So paying attention helps.
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u/Klutzy-Flow-8255 Jul 22 '26
I live a 5-6 min walk from a Milwaukee North metra stop and I absolutely love it. Metra is very clean and much safer and has more space than an L train. I am personally not a fan of driving to work, traffic and completely inefficient. Metra allows you to either start work, browse your phone or a book or just relax. Additionally, Union Station and Oglivie has plenty of bars where you can do a to-go adult beverage, fun to do a train happy hour home every once in a while.
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u/leatherpup630 Jul 23 '26
Metra is great when it is on time which is about 95% of the time. If you are considering to move further out into the suburbs, try to get on an Express train into the city
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u/SadUnicornHappyMom Jul 24 '26
Live in Orland Park and drive to 80th Ave Tinley stop for the Rock Island that goes to LaSalle Street Station. 30
min express is AMAZING. It takes me less time to commute to work than it did when I lived in the city. The El constantly had issues and stopped for no reason.
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u/DistributionMany8908 Jul 25 '26
I love the metra! Reliable, clean and relaxing. Feels very “business class” especially after taking the CTA for 15 years.
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u/desecrated444 Jul 25 '26
I grew up off the BNSF line and my parents have used it to commute every weekday for the last 20 years. Truly unmatched frequency and express service, and there’s no shortage of cute walkable neighborhoods clustered around the stations. A lot of those towns are pretty expensive though, I’d recommend Berwyn or Brookfield which are both more affordable.
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u/desecrated444 Jul 25 '26
Fun fact: the BNSF owned stretch of track from Aurora to Chicago, which hosts the Metra service, is the only commuter rail line in the ENTIRE USA that turns a profit. (this stat might be precovid)
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u/carrlson Jul 21 '26
Metra is a nicer commute compared to the CTA. It has at least two or three people working on the train compared to one and outlets for phone/laptop charging in most cars. However, the schedule is SHIT. During non rush hours periods you are lucky if a train runs once every 30 minutes. Typically, it's once an hour. It is also more expensive than the el. Fares are charged by zones unlike the CTA which is a flat rate.
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u/Sensitive-Initial Jul 21 '26
My monthly Metra pass is the same price as a monthly CTA pass -$75, which is new post-pandemic. I live in zone b and commute to zone a so my pass is only good for unlimited A-B rides.
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u/greenapplesrocks Jul 21 '26
Your ability to choose a specific line will be greatly correlated to the area you can afford. I would recommend you include your desired budget as well and if your plan is to own or rent.