SouthWest Service

SouthWest Service
SouthWest Service
	SouthWest Service train approaching Chicago Union Station at 35th Street near Guaranteed Rate Field (June 2024).
Overview
Owner	Norfolk Southern Railway (Leased to Metra)
Termini	Union Station; Manhattan;
Stations	13
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Metra, Norfolk Southern Railway
Daily ridership	9,600 (Avg. Weekday 2014)
Ridership	844,567 (2023)
Technical
Track length	40.6 miles
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	LaSalle Street
	planned relocation
	to Carbondale, New Orleans
	to Union Station via switchback
	Green to Harlem/Lake
	Orange to the Loop
	3.2 mi
	5.1 km
	to Michigan, New York,
	Washington, D.C. & Boston
	11.5 mi
	18.5 km
	12.2 mi
	19.6 km
	14.7 mi
	23.7 km
	16.6 mi
	26.7 km
	17.8 mi
	28.6 km
	18.6 mi
	29.9 km
	19.8 mi
	31.9 km
	23.0 mi
	37 km
	25.2 mi
	40.6 km
	28.7 mi
	46.2 km
	Brisbane
	EJ&E Railway
	35.4 mi
	57 km
	40.3 mi
	64.9 km
	Mileage
	source
	All stations are accessible
Key
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

The SouthWest Service (SWS) is a Metra commuter rail line, running southwest from Union Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois, to Manhattan, Illinois. Metra does not refer to its lines by color, but the timetable accents for the SouthWest Service line are "Banner Blue," for the Wabash Railroad's Banner Blue passenger train.^[3] The trackage is owned by Metra north of a junction with the Belt Railway of Chicago at Loomis Boulevard, and is leased from Norfolk Southern Railway south of the junction (NS has trackage rights over Metra's portion).^[4]

^ "Ridership Reports - System Facts". Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
^ State of the System - SouthWest Service
^ "Did you know?" (PDF). On the Bi-Level: 3. June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010.
^ Cite error: The named reference history was invoked but never defined (see the help page).