Wilmette station explained

Style:	Metra
Wilmette
Address:	722 Green Bay Road Wilmette, Illinois 60091
Coordinates:	42.0773°N -87.7092°W
Other:	Pace Buses Green Bay Bike Trail
Platform:	2 side platforms
Tracks:	2
Passengers:	1,653 (average weekday)
Pass Year:	2018
Pass Percent:	2.4
Opened:	1871
Rebuilt:	2001
Accessible:	true
Owned:	Village of Wilmette
Zone:	2
Pass Rank:	18 out of 236
Other Services Header:	Former services at CNS&M station
Other Services Collapsible:	yes
Map State:	collapsed
Mapframe:	yes
Mapframe-Custom:	Shape: none Line: none Marker: rail Marker-Color: 0f5200 Zoom: 15

Wilmette is the name of a commuter railroad station in Wilmette, Illinois that is served by Metra's Union Pacific North Line. Trains go south to Ogilvie Transportation Center and as far north as Kenosha, Wisconsin. Travel time to Ogilvie is 31 minutes on local trains, and as little as 27 minutes on morning inbound trains and 22 minutes on one afternoon inbound train. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Wilmette is in zone 2. As of 2018, Wilmette was the 18th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 1,653 weekday boardings.^[1]

The station is located at Green Bay Road and Washington Avenue in Wilmette's central business district. It is also in close proximity to the Wilmette Village Hall. Northbound trains stop on the west platform and southbound trains stop on the east platform. The closest CTA Purple Line station is Linden, about a mile away.

As of February 16, 2024, Wilmette is served by all 70 trains (35 in each direction) on weekdays, by 24 trains (12 in each direction) on Saturdays, and by all 18 trains (nine in each direction) on Sundays and holidays.

History

The first railroad station in Wilmette opened in 1871 at a cost of $700 . In 1875, it took 30 minutes to get to Chicago (about the same as now), and the fare was 11 cents (adult one-way tickets cost $3.05 in 2006)^[2] and $5.50 as of February 2018. The former station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.^{[3] [4]}

The present Metra station in Wilmette opened in 2001.

Bus connections

Pace

• 213 Green Bay Road (Monday-Saturday only)
• 421 Wilmette Avenue (weekday rush hours only)
• 422 Linden CTA/Glenview/Northbrook Court (weekdays only)

External links

• Metra – Wilmette
• Station from Central Avenue from Google Maps Street View
• Station from Lake Avenue from Google Maps Street View

Notes and References

1. Web site: Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018. April 2019. Metra. https://web.archive.org/web/20190526034459/https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/planning/ridership/2018_summary_results_report_final.pdf. 26 May 2019.
2. News: Cary . Joan . Railroads retain their importance. Chicago Tribune . 4 February 2004 . NS-24.
3. https://nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IL/Cook/state2.html Cook County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20071019002045/https://www.wilmette.com/whpc/details/1139wilmette.htm Chicago and North-Western Passenger Depot (Wilmette Historic Preservation Commission)