The Metra commuter rail system announced on May 28 that its Metra Electric Line will stop at the 51st/53rd, 55th–56th–57th, and 59th Street stations approximately every 20 minutes on weekdays starting June 15.
The change will increase midday weekday service to Hyde Park, removing several existing 30- to 60-minute gaps between trains. There will be no significant changes to weekend trains, which currently stop at each Hyde Park station approximately every 30 minutes, with multiple 60- to 90-minute gaps in service on Sundays.
The 18th, 27th, and 47th Street stations—which sit between the Hyde Park stations and the Loop—as well as the 63rd Street station will also cease to be flag stops, meaning that trains will stop at them on every trip rather than only when passengers are waiting at the station or request stops from the conductor.
These stations all ranked among the bottom 50 of Metra’s 236 stations in boardings per year in 2018, according to a Metra report that year, with the 27th Street station having an average of only 12 boardings per week. Metra has not published station-level boarding data since 2018. More frequent stops at the stations could increase travel time between Hyde Park and Chicago, though not every rush-hour train will be scheduled to stop at the 18th, 27th, and 47th Street stations.
All trains will now stop at the 55th–56th–57th Street station, and all inbound weekday trains will stop at every Hyde Park station. Some rush-hour trains previously skipped some of the Hyde Park stops.
“Illinoisans deserve modern, world-class transit, and Metra’s expanded service schedule will deliver more dependable transportation options for the South Side and south suburbs, better connecting riders to jobs, neighborhoods, and destinations like the Obama Presidential Center,” Governor J. B. Pritzker said in the announcement. The Obama Presidential Center, located in Jackson Park adjacent to the 59th Street station, is set to open June 19, days after the new schedule takes effect.
Pritzker also attributed service improvements to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act—which the Illinois General Assembly passed in October 2025—in the announcement. The bill established the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace and provided $1.5 billion in annual funding to prevent transit service cuts.
Metra recently ended its day pass program with UChicago—which provided students with five free Metra Day Passes annually—to promote its U-Pass+ program, which adds unlimited free Metra rides to the existing unlimited CTA bus and train access provided by the standard U-Pass. The University told the Maroon in March that any changes to its current U-Pass program would be announced before the start of autumn quarter.
