Whether you’re heading east to Chicago or west to Aurora, Metra is making it easier to get around this summer.
Metra announced April 4 that it is increasing the number of trains that will run on the BNSF line on weekends and tweaking the arrival times of a majority of trains that pass through Brookfield and Riverside on weekdays for summer service. The new schedule will go into effect Monday, April 29.
Six more trains will run on the line on Saturdays and 16 more will run on Sundays so that both days offer the same amount of service. According to Metra, inbound trains leaving Aurora will offer hourly service from 5 a.m. to noon and from 2-7 p.m. while outbound trains leaving Chicago will offer hourly service from 10 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
Under the new weekend schedule, inbound trains will leave Aurora five minutes past the hour, arriving at the Brookfield station 49 minutes past and at the Riverside station 52 minutes past. Outbound trains will leave Union Station at 33 minutes past the hour to arrive in Riverside 57 minutes past the hour and in Brookfield at the top of the next hour.
For example, a train leaving Aurora at 9:05 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday would arrive in Brookfield at 9:49 a.m. and in Riverside at 9:52 a.m. before reaching Union Station at 10:20 a.m.
The changes to the weekday train schedule are more minor. Starting at the 9 a.m. hour, inbound trains will arrive in Brookfield and Riverside about two minutes later than they do now. Only one outbound weekday train stopping in the two villages will be affected by the new schedule — the first train of the day will arrive in Riverside at 5:57 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. and in Brookfield at 6 a.m. instead of 6:04 a.m.
“We’re especially excited to be able to offer more weekend service so that Metra is an even better option for anyone wanting to enjoy all the events and attractions that are part of summer in Chicago,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski in a written statement.
To view the both the current and new BNSF line schedules, visit Metra’s website.
