Matteson station

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Matteson
Matteson station in April 2016.
General information
Location	215th Street & Main Street Matteson, Illinois
Coordinates	41°29′55″N 87°42′09″W / 41.4985°N 87.7025°W / 41.4985; -87.7025
Owned by	Metra
Line(s)	University Park Sub District
Platforms	1 Island platform (formerly 2)
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	Yes
Accessible	No
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	1863
Electrified	Overhead line, 1,500 V DC
Passengers
2018	591 (average weekday)[1]  16.6%
Rank	86 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station Richton Park toward University Park Metra Electric Main Line 211th Street (Lincoln Highway) toward Millennium Station
Former services Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station Richton toward New Orleans Main Line Homewood toward Chicago Richton Terminus Electric Suburban Main Line 211th Street toward Randolph Street Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station Frankfort toward Joliet Joliet Division Chicago Heights toward East Gary
Track layout Legend ME north to Millennium Front St. Old Plank Road Trail to EJ&E Main St. Rail yard EJ&E ME south to University Park
Location

Matteson is one of two commuter rail stations along the Main Branch of the Metra Electric line which serve Matteson, Illinois. It is located at 215th and Main Streets, and is 28.2 miles (45.4 km) away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station.^[2] In Metra's zone-based fare system, Matteson station is in zone 3. As of 2018^[update], Matteson is the 86th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 591 weekday boardings.^[1]

Matteson station was the terminus of the IC Electric line until 1946, when it was extended to Richton Park, in order to bring the cars closer to the south end of the "IC Electric" coach storage yard.^{[citation needed]} Originally built in 1863,^[3] and rebuilt in 1912,^[4] it was the southernmost station to be built before the line was electrified in 1926. Matteson is built on elevated tracks near the embankment of a bridge over Front Street. This bridge also carries the Amtrak line that runs parallel to it, carrying the City of New Orleans, Illini, and Saluki trains. Parking is available on both sides of the tracks on the south side of Front Street and a parallel bicycle path. The west side parking lot is along Main Street between the Front Street and Main Street bridges, while the larger east side parking lot is within the Village of Matteson but is actually operated by the Village of Park Forest and located on the corner of North Street, Homan Avenue, and Front Street. A pedestrian tunnel which runs beneath the tracks, is also elevated and has staircases on each end connects the two parking lots.

No bus connections are available at this station, but the Old Plank Road Trail offers a human-powered right-of-way going east and west.

There is evidence of another island platform to the east of the current platform. This served the IC long-distance trains on a non-electrified double track line—the same tracks used by Amtrak today.