Evanston Central Street (Metra)

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Evanston Central Street
Metra regional rail

Station statistics

Address

1826 Central Avenue
Evanston, IL

Lines

Union Pacific/North

Connections

CTA and Pace Buses

Platforms

Other information

Accessible

Fare zone

Evanston Central Street is the northernmost of the three commuter railroad stations in Evanston, Illinois, USA. It is an elevated station at Green Bay Road and Central Street, surrounded by a neighborhood of stores, restaurants and multi-story apartment buildings. Just north of the station, the tracks descend to grade and pass through Wilmette on ground level.

Central Street station is served by Metra's Union Pacific/North Line, with service south to Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago and as far north as Kenosha, Wisconsin. In Metra's zone-based fare schedule, Central Street is in zone C. There are two platforms: northbound trains stop at the west platform, and southbound trains stop at the east platform. Central Street has a station house on the east platform. The station house contains a ticket booth as well as a coffee and pastry shop named "Top of the Tracks." The station house is open from 5:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and a ticket agent is present during these hours on weekdays.

This is the closest Metra station to Northwestern University's sports complex at Ryan Field. Chicago Transit Authority's Central station on the Purple Line is less than a mile to the east.

A highly unusual incident occurred at this station on August 23, 2006, when a train bound from Kenosha to Chicago ran out of fuel, apparently due to employee error. ^[1]