Harvey station (Illinois)

Harvey
General information
LocationPark Avenue and 154th Street
Harvey, Illinois
Coordinates41°36′31″N 87°38′37″W / 41.6086°N 87.6437°W / 41.6086; -87.6437
Owned byMetra
Line(s)University Park Sub District
Platforms1 Island platform (formerly 2)
Tracks2
ConnectionsLocal Transit Pace Buses
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes; Bicycle racks
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone2
History
Opened1856
Rebuilt1926, 2001
ElectrifiedOverhead line1,500 V DC
Passengers
2018471 (average weekday)[1]Decrease 13.1%
Rank102 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station
Hazel Crest Metra Electric
Main Line
147th Street (Sibley Boulevard)
Former services
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
Homewood Main Line Kensington
toward Chicago
Hazel Crest
toward Richton
Electric Suburban
Main Line
147th Street
Washington Park Race Track
Terminus
Electric Suburban
Washington Park Branch
Terminus
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Kankakee
toward Cincinnati
ChicagoCincinnati Kensington
toward Chicago
Location
Map

Harvey is one of two Metra Electric commuter rail stations along the line's Main Branch in Harvey, Illinois. The station is located at Park Avenue and 154th Street, and is 20.0 miles (32.2 km) away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station.[2] In Metra's zone-based fare system, Harvey is in zone 2. As of 2018, Harvey is the 102nd busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 471 weekday boardings.[1]

Compared to most stations along the Metra Electric line, including Harvey's other station at 147th Street, Harvey is quite grand in its appearance, at least in the vicinity of its given location. The station is located two blocks from City Hall, and next to Pace's Harvey Transportation Center.[3]

Parking is available along Park Avenue and the west side of the tracks between 155th Street and a bridge for a Canadian National Railway line that crosses underneath the Metra Electric Main Branch, as well as the Amtrak line that runs parallel to it, carrying the City of New Orleans, Illini, and Saluki trains. These tracks carried the intercity-trains of the Illinois Central until 1971, and most trains stopped here. It also contains a much larger parking lot on the east side of the tracks surrounded by 155th Street, Commercial Avenue, and 156th Street.

On the evening of October 12, 1979, a switchman incorrectly aligned a switch in front of an oncoming Amtrak train, leading it to go across a now-removed crossover into a stationary freight train. The resulting crash killed 2 crew members of the freight train in what would become known as the Harvey, Illinois train collision.

  1. ^ a b c "Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018" (PDF). Metra. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019.
  2. ^ Metra Railfan Tips - Metra Electric
  3. ^ "City of Harvey Website - Transportation". Archived from the original on 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2008-02-28.