Freeport Subdivision

The Freeport Subdivision is a railroad line in Illinois which runs from 16th Street in downtown Chicago to Freeport, Illinois. It is owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway (CN). As of 2016 the line is almost exclusively freight-only, with only a small segment within Chicago, between 21st Street in Chinatown and Ashland Avenue in Bridgeport, hosting Amtrak and Metra passenger trains.

Freeport Subdivision
The Freeport Subdivision as seen from Berwyn, IL
Overview
Owner	Canadian National Railway
Locale	Illinois
Termini	Chicago Freeport
Service
Type	Freight rail
History
Opened	1891 (1891)
Technical
Line length	113.5 mi (182.7 km)
Number of tracks	1-2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
Route map Chicago Subdivision Rock Island District St. Charles Air Line Orange Line to the Chicago Loop Amtrak Halsted Bridgeport Yard Chicago River Ashland Orange Line to Midway Joliet Subdivision to Joliet Chicago District Blue Island Subdivision Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Crawford Yard Belt Railway of Chicago Hawthorne Yard BNSF Chicago Subdivision Hawthorne Industry Lead Des Plaines River Scheck Lumber Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Union Pacific / West Line to Chicago Salt Creek Union Pacific / West Line to Elburn Major Prime Plastics Leithton Subdivision Belvidere Subdivision to West Chicago Belvidere Subdivision to Rockford Fox River Fox River Trolley Museum Genoa Canadian Pacific Railway to Chicago Canadian Pacific Railway to Savanna Kishwaukee River Belvidere Subdivision to South Elgin Illinois Railway Rockford Branch Rock River Rockford Canadian Pacific Railway to Janesville Belvidere Subdivision Freeport Dubuque Subdivision to Dubuque

The line is 113.5 miles (182.7 km) long. At its east end it joins with the St. Charles Air Line and the Chicago Subdivision in Chicago's South Loop. From there to the interchange with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad in Broadview, Illinois, it is double-tracked and CTC-controlled. From Broadview to Freeport, Illinois, it is single-tracked and track warrants are used. The maximum speed over the line is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h).[1] The section between 16th Street and 21st Street mostly handles traffic between CN's Chicago yards; Amtrak trains such as the City of New Orleans also use it when the St. Charles Air Line is out of service.[2]

The Illinois Central Railroad opened its line between Chicago and Freeport in 1891, giving it a direct route between Chicago and Iowa. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, successor to the Illinois Central, sold the line between Hawthorne Yard in Cicero, Illinois, and Freeport (and on to Iowa) in 1985 to the Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad. CN, which had acquired the Illinois Central Gulf in 1999, reacquired the route in 1996.[3]

The Illinois Central operated passenger trains on the subdivision until the startup of Amtrak on May 1, 1971; Amtrak did not retain the Chicago–Sioux City, Iowa, Hawkeye.[4] Passenger service returned on February 14, 1974, with the introduction of the Black Hawk between Chicago and Dubuque, Iowa.[5] This service ended on September 30, 1981.[6]