With over 6.8 million riders in 2024, the BNSF line between downtown Chicago and Aurora, serving the western suburbs of the region, is consistently Metra’s busiest line year over year. As Metra continues to evolve schedules to meet today’s traveling public, an improved schedule will start on Monday, September 8, 2025, that will include more weekday express trains and expanded hourly service on weekends.
The new schedule responds to customer feedback and ridership data to minimize capacity issues on express trains during the morning and evening rush. To add capacity and better accommodate riders, Metra is adding two inbound express trains to the weekday morning service. The new trains will make stops from Lisle to Downers Grove and then express to Chicago. For the evening rush, Metra is adding two outbound trains that will express from Chicago to Congress Park and then make all stops to Fairview Avenue, and two trains that will express from Chicago to Downers Grove and then make all stops to Aurora.
For reverse commuters, Metra is also adjusting the schedule of Train 1268, which will now depart Aurora at 3:40 p.m. and operate as a semi-express service, making all stops between Aurora and Westmont, then expressing to LaGrange Road, and then again expressing to Cicero. The train will no longer stop at Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Western Springs, Brookfield, Hollywood, Riverside, Harlem Avenue, and Berwyn. Passengers using those stations will be served by Train 1312, which will depart Fairview Avenue at 4:12 p.m.
On weekends, Metra will be adding four trains to the BNSF schedule to create hourly inbound service between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. and hourly outbound service between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. The new schedule will also add a late-night outbound express train to Downers Grove that will depart Chicago at 10:30 p.m. The route features the same schedule for trains on Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to these changes, there will be minor adjustments to departure times on several other trains. For complete details, visit metra.com. To view the new schedule, visit the Metra Stations and Line page.
