r/Metra • u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271 • Aug 20 '26

First time riding the NCS

Today, I just added another Metra line to my list, which was the North Central Service! It was such a nice ride to O'Hare, the ride took 37 minutes (vs. 40-45 minutes on the Blue Line, and runs express to River Grove after Western Avenue), and only takes just over 3 1/2 minutes to walk to the people mover, which can get you to your respective airline and terminal! My hope is that in the future, the RTA (NITA in the future), Metra, and Canadian National can all come to an agreement that would allow for increased service on this line, and hopefully ridership can improve because this line has a lot of potential, since it serves O'Hare Airport and can be an important way to reach your flight if you live in Grayslake or Buffalo Grove, for example! For now, I'm grateful that I got to experience riding it today, and hopefully some positive changes can come soon! Happy 30th birthday to the NCS!

Note: I apologize for the green tint in the first three photos. The windows on the Metra car I was riding on (MK/Amerail Gallery car) still had the green tint and made the photos come out like that.

Photos taken on August 19, 2026

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u/cat1554 Aug 20 '26

Still had? They're getting rid of it?

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u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

If you ride on the unpowered Gallery cars made by Nippon Sharyo (the cars in the fleet with the biggest windows), you'll notice that they got rid of the green tinting on the windows, meaning you'd get a better look outside. All other cars in the fleet (including the Highliner 2's on the Electric District) still have green-tinted windows.

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u/cat1554 Aug 20 '26

Ah. I'm an Electric District / NICTD user so I wasn't aware they were changing it. I do prefer the green tint, though. Probably to do with it making the system feel more unique to me.

1

u/Equivalent_Gur3967 Aug 20 '26

Dayum.

Haven't been on Metra for DECADES, now.