Metra is asking the public for feedback on a new naming system for its 11 rail lines that radiate out of downtown Chicago. The effort has been spurred by Metra’s pending takeover of Union Pacific’s three former Chicago & North Western lines later this spring. 

Metra officials said those lines (Union Pacific North, Northwest and West) will be renamed regardless, but it is now considering doing the same to all of its routes. Presently, there is no standard method for how Metra’s lines are named. Instead, they are named for directions, how the trains are powered or the railroads that did or do operate them. Under the proposed changes, each line would get a letter and a number. So lines going north out of the city would be N lines with a number, lines going west would be W and lines going south would be S. The lines would also be colored, with routes out of Ogilive Transportation Center being green, Union station being gold, LaSalle Street orange and Millennium gray. In another variation, all of the lines would simply get an “M” for Metra and a number. 

One proposal calls for labeling lines by their direction and giving them a number, as well as color-coding them based on the downtown station. 

“Renaming the three UP lines presents Metra with an opportunity to reconsider all its line names, which follow no logical or consistent pattern,” officials stated. “The result can be confusing for new users, and for those who have limited proficiency with English. For instance, two lines have ‘Milwaukee’ in their names, because they were once part of the Milwaukee Road, but they do not go to that city.”

Metra said the new system could be rolled out as early as next year, with the complete changeover by 2029. The public can take a survey about the proposal online metra.com/LineNames. —Railfan & Railroad Staff