Metra’s Union Pacific North (UP-N) line riders will soon have more opportunities to take the train on the weekends as the commuter rail agency plans to expand service next month.

Metra has announced that starting Sept. 20, a new UP-N schedule will go into effect featuring four new trains on Saturdays and 12 on Sundays. With the additional service there will now 15 trains in each direction on each weekend day on the line that stops in many North Shore communities.

“The expanded schedule will significantly improve service to and from Kenosha on weekends, providing a total of eight inbound and eight outbound trains,” a Metra statement added. “The schedule will also decrease gaps in weekend service by offering hourly departures from Waukegan or Chicago throughout most of the day.”

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis described the additional service “technically” as a pilot program.

“This is how we have been introducing new schedules post-COVID; the idea is that we may adjust them after implementation based on factors such as ridership, customer feedback, and on-time performance,” he said.

One highlight of the service expansion are additional northbound trains on Sunday morning. Under the current schedule, the first northbound train doesn’t depart from Chicago until 10:35 a.m. Under the new plan, there will now be three new trains going north starting at 6:32 a.m.

That will create identical schedules on both weekend days and holidays.

“Lengthening the service span on Sunday was one of the goals but so was simplifying the service in general,” Gillis explained. “Making the service the same on both Saturday and Sunday makes it a little easier for customers to get used to the schedule and not have to look at it when they plan to ride.”

Gillis noted in July Metra had an average of 10,263 passenger trips on the UP-N Line on Saturdays and 7,136 on Sundays.

Metra experienced a sharp increase in ridership when it introduced expanded weekend service on its BNSF line that runs between Chicago and Aurora, according to Gillis. He anticipated Metra officials would assess the success of the additional UP-N service in about a year.

The introduction of the enhanced service comes as Metra – like all Chicago public transportation systems – face serious financial questions, with the potential of service cuts.

Gillis noted Metra will release its proposed budget for next year in the fall and the Regional Transportation Authority has asked Metra to draft one budget if the fiscal issues are not addressed and a second one if they are met.

Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/25/lake-forest-more-weekend-metra-service/