Union Pacific/Northwest Line

	Union Pacific/Northwest Line
	; The line's Crystal Lake station, located in Crystal Lake, Illinois
Info
Type	Commuter Rail
System	Metra
Status	Operational
Locale	Cook and McHenry counties, Illinois
Termini	Ogilvie Transportation Center; Harvard, McHenry
Stations	23
Operation
Operator(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Technical
Line length	62 mi
Route map

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The Union Pacific/Northwest (UP-NW) is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding suburbs. While Metra does not specifically refer to any of its lines by a particular color, the timetable accents for the Union Pacific/Northwest line are printed in bright "Viking Yellow".

Its eastern terminus is the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago. The line travels northwest from there with most trains terminating in Crystal Lake, Illinois. About one third of trains on the main line continue to Harvard, Illinois. The McHenry branch to McHenry, Illinois only has service on weekdays during rush periods. This is Metra's longest route and one of 3 lines with branches as well as the only line with 3 termini.

This line also has high ridership by people from southern Wisconsin due to its proximity to places like Madison and Janesville. In fact, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has funded studies on extending the line from Harvard to into Janesville, with potential stops along the way. ^[1]