Elmwood Park is a station on Metra's Milwaukee District West Line in Elmwood Park, Illinois. The station is 10.2 miles (16.4 km) away from Chicago Union Station, the eastern terminus of the line.[2] In Metra's zone-based fare system, Elmwood Park is in zone 2. As of 2018, Elmwood Park is the 124th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 388 weekday boardings.[1]
As of February 15, 2024, Elmwood Park is served by 41 trains (20 inbound, 21 outbound) on weekdays, by all 24 trains (12 in each direction) on Saturdays, and by all 18 trains (nine in each direction) on Sundays and holidays.
Elmwood Park station consists of three tracks and two side platforms. The middle track has no platform, so stopping trains must use the outer tracks. Metra's North Central Service trains use the tracks but do not stop. Just west of the station is the Grand Avenue railroad crossing, which is the longest grade crossing in the Chicago area. It is so long and at such an acute angle that drivers need to use extra caution when crossing the tracks. It is used by both Metra and Canadian Pacific Railway trains.
Elmwood Park station in 1997
Elmwood Park has built a kiss-and-ride drop off station on Grand Avenue. This allows cars to pull into the driveway and quickly drop off others safely. This is part of their plan to reconstruct Grand Avenue.
Accident
The Grand Avenue railroad crossing just west of the station was the site of a collision on November 23, 2005, between North Central Service train #107 and several cars that were stuck in traffic on the crossing. Nobody was killed, but several people were injured. As a result of the accident, the maximum speed trains were allowed to travel through the area was reduced from 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), and the crossing was outfitted with additional warning signage.[3]
