Heritage Corridor

Heritage Corridor
Romeoville station in Romeoville, Illinois
Overview
Owner	Canadian National
Termini	Chicago Union Station Joliet
Stations	7
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metra
Operator(s)	Metra, Canadian National
Daily ridership	2,400 (Avg. Weekday 2016)[1]
Ridership	252,907 (2023)
Technical
Line length	37.3 mi (60.0 km)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Heritage Corridor highlighted in maroon Show interactive map Legend NCS to Antioch MD-W to Big Timber Road MD-N to Fox Lake 0.0 Union Station Blue BNSF to Aurora Chicago River (south branch) SWS to Manhattan IC West Line to Randolph Street Station Orange to the Loop I-90 / I-94 2.6 mi 4.2 km Halsted Street | Halsted Bubbly Creek I-55 IC West Line to Addison Orange to Midway Western Avenue Corridor 5.2 mi 8.4 km Brighton Park BNSF Railway Belt Railway of Chicago 10.3 mi 16.6 km Glenn 11.9 mi 19.2 km Summit Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad I-294 Mt. Forest 17.5 mi 28.2 km Willow Springs Cal-Sag Channel Lambert 25.3 mi 40.7 km Lemont I-355 29.2 mi 47 km Romeoville 31.7 mi 51 km 5th Street 32.9 mi 52.9 km Lockport EJ&E Railway State Prison RI to LaSalle Street 37.3 mi 60 km Joliet Amtrak to St. Louis & San Antonio Mileage[2] source All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit Show BSicon diagram map

The Heritage Corridor (HC) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its southwestern suburbs, terminating in Joliet, Illinois. While Metra does not refer to its lines by colors, the Heritage Corridor appears on Metra timetables as "Alton Maroon," after the Alton Railroad, which ran trains on this route.^[3] The name Heritage Corridor refers to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage Corridor. Established in 1984, it runs parallel to the line.^[4]

Unlike other Metra lines, the Heritage Corridor runs during weekday rush hours only in the peak direction–to Chicago in the morning and Joliet in the afternoon, with the trip from Joliet to Union Station taking about 1 hour and 7 minutes.^[5] The Rock Island District also serves Joliet with 21 trains. Fares on the Rock Island District were cut because of the Fair Transit South Cook pilot program; a ticket from Joliet to Union Station via the Heritage Corridor is now more expensive than a ticket from Joliet to LaSalle Street on the Rock Island District.

As of February 15, 2024, Metra operates six trains (three in each direction) on the Heritage Corridor on weekdays, with each train serving all stations on the route. All inbound trains originate from Joliet in the morning, and all outbound trains terminate at Joliet in the afternoon. Except for occasional seasonal excursion services, there is no Saturday service. There is currently no off-peak, Sunday, or holiday service on the Heritage Corridor.

The Heritage Corridor has the lowest train frequency and fewest number of stations of any other Metra line.

Like the North Central Service and the SouthWest Service, all stations on the route are fully ADA-accessible.