(Editor’s Note: This story was reported by Igor Studenkov for the Evanston RoundTable, a neighboring independent newsroom. It was shared with The Record as part of an ongoing collaborative effort.)

Thirty years after the Metra line that serves the North Shore became known as Union Pacific North Line, another name change is in store.

And more fundamental changes may be coming to the entire system.

While the name change has been rumored since Union Pacific Railroad began transferring operations of its three lines to Metra in March 2023, it didn’t become official until March 10.

The commuter rail agency also announced that it was using the name change of the three Union Pacific lines as an opportunity to reconsider the names of its other lines. Metra is also reconsidering the line colors, which hearken back to the railroad companies that originally operated them.

Metra is asking riders to sound off on which of the three options they prefer: 1.) keeping all the line names (except the Union Pacific lines’) and colors as they are, 2.) switching to a single color and renaming all the line with a letter M and a number, or 3.) having the names based on cardinal directions and different colors depending on what downtown terminal they use. Union Pacific North would become “M1” under the second scenario and “N1” under the third scenario.

Riders can fill out an online survey or attend one of the in-person outreach events scheduled for this week. The Ogilvie Transportation Center outreach event took place from 3:30-6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.

What’s in the name (and color)?

When Metra was formed in 1984, the line serving the North Shore was known as Chicago & North Western/North Line, after the railroad that owned and operated it at the time.

When Union Pacific bought the Chicago & North Western railroad in 1995, it took over the service contract, and the name was changed accordingly.

In 2019, Union Pacific tried to get out of the contract and switch to the arrangement Metra already had for SouthWest Service, North Central Service and Heritage Corridor lines. It would continue to own the railroad tracks and some stations, but Metra would operate the trains with its own crews. Once the transfer began, the question of the name of the three lines came up, but both Metra and Union Pacific declined to comment at the time.

As Metra’s announcement noted, the current naming scheme isn’t consistent. The lines operated under contract have the name of the railroad operators. The lines Metra owns and operates have “District” in their names and the name of the railroad that previously ran it — except Metra Electric, those names refer to it being the only electrified Metra line. The lines that Metra operates but doesn’t own use “[Cardinal Direction] Service,” except Heritage Corridor, which is a reference to the nearby Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage Corridor.

For line colors, Metra uses paint schemes based on each line’s history. Union Pacific North, for example, uses the shade of green that was once one of Chicago & North Western’s signature colors. (Union Pacific Northwest Line uses the other signature color, viking yellow.) This means that, unlike the L network, which uses a different color for each line, the system has two, sometimes three lines with similar colors. BNSF Line, for example, uses a lighter cascade green, and Milwaukee District North, Milwaukee District West and Metra Electric use three different shades of orange.

Alternative options

The second option would make all the lines the same color, and rename them as “M” (for Metra) followed by a number.

The third option divides all lines into three groups. Lines that travel north of Chicago, lines that travel west of Chicago and lines that travel south of Chicago. Each line is labeled with a direction and a number. Union Pacific North line would become N1. The colors would depend on the terminal, so all three Union Pacific lines, which use Ogilvie Transportation Center, would use the a shade of teal Metra is calling Ogilvie green.

In both cases, the major branches of Metra Electric and Rock Island District lines would be treated as separate lines, increasing the number of lines from 11 to 14.

Most commuter systems in United States use full names for lines. While Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority adopted an R-[Number] scheme in 1984, it switched to names based on the lines’ end points in 2010.

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