Metra Electric Line

MetraRail provides service to Chicago, Illinois and surrounding areas. It is an electrified commuter rail line
owned and operated by Metra, connecting Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station) in
downtown Chicago, with its southern suburbs. The Metra has 4 major terminal stations.
(1) Ogilvie Transportation Center
(2) Union Station
(3) Millennium Station ( Randolph Street Station )
(4) LaSalle Street Station

A Metra commuter train for University Park, at the Van Buren Street Station.
The starting station is Millennium Station.

(L) Van Buren Street Station in 1961. (R) A commuter railway track in downtown Chicago in 1961.

(L) A Metro train arrived at LaSalle Street Station from the southwestern area of Chicago suburb.
(R) A rush hour platform congestion in the morning upon the arrival of a commuter train at LaSalle Street Station.

(L) No smoking sign plate placed in the center of the platform of LaSalle Street Station.
(R) The interior of Metra train.

(L) The front view of Union Station. (R) The platform level is slightly higher than the water level of Chicago River.

The platforms of a Metra commuter train at the Union Station.

The platforms of a Metra commuter train at the Union Station.

Amtrak and Union Station
Chicago is one of the largest hubs of passenger rail service in the nation. Many Amtrak-long distance
services originate from Union Station. Such services terminate in New York, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C.


(L) A departure board of Amtrak in the Union Station.
(R) The entrance to a platform of Amtrak. No photography is allowed on the platform.

A railway switchyard near the O'Hare International Airport, photograhed in September 2010.
Copyright(c) 2010 Junhaku Miyamoto All right reserved.


METRA（シカゴ近郊鉄道）案内 　　シカゴから北、西、南への3方向に路線が延びている。市中心部には４ヶ所の
METRAのターミナルがあるが、ユニオン駅はとの共用である。ラサールストリート駅はシカゴ証券取引所ビルの
２階と直結している。車内は２階建てのダブルデッカーで、ほとんどの場合座って行ける。ホーム中央には
「屋根のあるところより15フィートの地帯は禁煙」との標識が掲げられているが、屋根はホーム全体を覆っている
ので、たとえ屋外でも、ホームに於ける喫煙行為は禁止されていると考えられる。

シカゴ・ユニオン駅からは アムトラックの長距離列車がロスアンゼルス、オークランド、ニューオリンズ、ニュー
ヨークなどへ出発する。筆者も1962年に、シカゴからニューヨーク向けの夜行列車に乗車した経験があり、車窓から
の夜景と、非常に疲れて到着したことなどが、断片的に記憶に残っている。

シカゴは鉄道建設当時から物流の中心都市として繁栄してきた。全米各地から送られてくる貨物の量は膨大である。
一部はトラック輸送に切り替えられているが、人件費の節約、環境面からの再検討なども加味され、長距離鉄道
輸送が見直されている。2009年調査では全米貨物輸送の40% を鉄道が担っている。

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Travel by Train
All railway trains should be completely smoke -free.

　Italia Rail: Trenitalia
　Rail Travel Ireland
　Railways in Helsinki, Finland
　Train in Norway, Trondheim to Oslo

　Amtrak Acela Express: Boston-Newyork
　Washington DC Metro/Union Station
　Chicago CTA Rail
　Miami Metro Rail

　Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Express
　Stockholm County Railways
　X2000:Stockholm-Copenhagen Express
　Greater Copenhagen Railways
　Paris Rail Terminals
　Paris Metro-RER-Tram

　Korea Train Express, Airport Express and Metro
　Bangkok Mass Transit/Thai Railways
　Indian Railway
　Dehli Metro
　Airport Express and MTR, Hong Kong
　Taiwan High-Speed Rail
　China High-Speed Rail

　Portugal Metro, Railways
　Amsterdam Rail
　High-speed train in Spain 2010
　Barcelona Railways
　Railway Travel in France 2011
　Railway Travel in Germany 2011
　High-speed train in Germany, Austria and Switzerland 2013

　Vancouver Skytrain
　Edomonton Metro
　VIA train, Vancouver to Jasper
　Amtrak: Seattle to Glacier National Park
　San Francisco: cable-car, tram and Bart
　Alaskan Railroad

　Moscow Metro
　Saint Petersburg Metro
　Sapsan, high-speed train of Russia
　Allegro, high-speed train between Finland and Russia

　Railways connecting Canberra and Sydney, Australia
　Gold Coast Light-Rail
　NZ Rail: Tranz Alpine/Scenic
　Brief Journey by Australian Rail

　Narita Airport-City Rail Service
　Japanese high-speed train 'Hayabusa'
　Japanese high-speed train 'Super-Komachi'
Smoking ban in the railway trains of the world

Chicago
O'Hare International Airport /Arrival Chicago CTA Chicago Metra Chicago 1961/2008 City of Chicago
O'Hare International Airport /Departure Smoking ban in public places in Illinois


シカゴ近郊鉄道
2008年5月執筆　 2009年10月英文加筆　 2010年10月写真加筆　医学博士　宮本順伯
★This Web site is link-free.
This information was provided by the Smokefree Hotel and Travel.
The photographs were taken and the article was written in May 2008, unlessotherwise noted.,
by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D., PhD.
Copyright (C) 2008 Junhaku Miyamoto, PhD. All right is reserved.

Lake Michigan and Chicago 1961 - 2008