Arlington Park station

Arlington Park is one of two commuter railroad stations along Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line in the village of Arlington Heights, Illinois. The station is located at 2121 West Northwest Highway (US 14) and Wilke Road, within Arlington Park Race Course, and lies 24.4 miles (39.3 km) from Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago.[2] In Metra's zone-based fare system, Arlington Park is in zone 3. As of 2018, Arlington Park is the 15th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 1,738 weekday boardings.[1]

Arlington Park
General information
Location2121 West Northwest Highway
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Coordinates42°05′43″N 88°00′33″W / 42.0953°N 88.0092°W / 42.0953; -88.0092
Owned byUnion Pacific
Platforms1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks3
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone3
History
Opened1975
Passengers
20181,738 (average weekday)[1]Increase 2.4%
Rank15 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station
Palatine
toward Harvard or McHenry
Union Pacific Northwest Arlington Heights
toward Ogilvie
Former services
Preceding station Chicago and North Western Railway Following station
Palatine Wisconsin Division Arlington Heights
toward Chicago
Location
Map

The Arlington Park station was designed originally to serve just the Arlington Park Race Track, but now serves postal employees at the Processing and Distribution Center in Palatine, Illinois as well as residents of southeast Palatine and west Arlington Heights, although a fence blocks most of the access to the station from the Palatine side. Despite its original purpose as a racetrack station, Arlington Park is located along the Union Pacific Northwest Line's main line, rather than a spur or a sidetrack. No bus connections are available.

As of May 30, 2023, Arlington Park is served by 62 trains (31 in each direction) on weekdays, by 33 trains (16 inbound, all 17 outbound) on Saturdays, and by 20 trains (nine inbound, all 11 outbound) on Sundays.

Parking is available within a section of the track complex's property dedicated for Metra commuter parking. As of June 2010, the price was $1.50 per day. The commuter parking lot is operated by Imperial Parking Corporation,[3] operating as Impark. Impark has sometimes drawn criticism over business practices related to parking payment; at this lot in particular, commuters are required to pay a surcharge to use pay-by-phone when the lot's payment machines are out of order.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018" (PDF). Metra. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019.
  2. ^ Metra Railfan Tips - Union Pacific Northwest Line
  3. ^ Imperial Parking Corporation
  4. ^ https://post.complaints.com/post.php?followup=2&original_id=127908[permanent dead link]
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