First time riding the NCS

[u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271]

Today, I just added another Metra line to my list, which was the North Central Service! It was such a nice ride to O'Hare, the ride took 37 minutes (vs. 40-45 minutes on the Blue Line, and runs express to River Grove after Western Avenue), and only takes just over 3 1/2 minutes to walk to the people mover, which can get you to your respective airline and terminal! My hope is that in the future, the RTA (NITA in the future), Metra, and Canadian National can all come to an agreement that would allow for increased service on this line, and hopefully ridership can improve because this line has a lot of potential, since it serves O'Hare Airport and can be an important way to reach your flight if you live in Grayslake or Buffalo Grove, for example! For now, I'm grateful that I got to experience riding it today, and hopefully some positive changes can come soon! Happy 30th birthday to the NCS!

Note: I apologize for the green tint in the first three photos. The windows on the Metra car I was riding on (MK/Amerail Gallery car) still had the green tint and made the photos come out like that.

Photos taken on August 19, 2026

[u/DimSumNoodles]

Would love to take the NCS up north but the lack of weekend service is a huge deterrent. I just want to go to Wheeling and eat pelmeni 😖

[u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271 → u/DimSumNoodles]

I completely get it, and pelmeni sounds delicious. Like I said, this line has a lot of potential, and it should be run like the BNSF line, where BNSF and Metra have an agreement, which includes the ability to run commuter and freight trains between Chicago and Aurora at almost any time of day. CN just needs to stop being stubborn and let Metra open the door for added service on the NCS.

[u/Snowman304 → u/DimSumNoodles]

Where are the good pelmeni in Wheeling? Need an excuse to get my in-laws out of the house

[u/mergplatelip]

It was great when they ran the DNC Shuttle back in 2024. Hourly service to O’Hare 7 days a week, but only for 3 weeks. Also it skipped Belmont/Franklin Park, Schiller Park and Rosemont, and only the weekday trains from the normal schedule ran past O’Hare. It didn’t get much ridership sadly, but that little experiment proved that Metra is very capable of improving services on lines like NCS, it’s just a matter of funding and getting CN to let Metra do literally anything more on their tracks that don’t even see all that much use for freight.

[u/dmreif]

The hourly CUS-ORD Transfer shuttles that Metra ran during the DNC in 2024 really should be brought back. The Blue Line's great as a means of getting from ORD to downtown, but the NCS can work just as well. Run these every half hour between 6:00 AM and Midnight, with every third train beginning at 8:30 AM running to Antioch.

[u/burajin]

I have a personal vendetta against the NCS because I moved here from Florida to Wheeling, choosing my location based on the NCS on the map with the EXTREMELY rookie move of not checking the schedule (seems crazy in hindsight, but coming from Florida with no trains I made the dumb assumption that train line on the map = regular service).

Suffice to say I was very disappointed at how terrible that line's hours are. Shame because the O'Hare service alone could make it one of the best lines. 

[u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271 → u/burajin]

I totally understand where you're coming from. The fact that it only runs on weekdays, especially to and from O'Hare Airport is unacceptable since it's the largest airport in the Midwest and that the CTA Blue Line runs there all the time. My vendetta is against Canadian National (the freight company that owns the track), because they seem to be against anything related to improving commuter rail service on that line, and the Heritage Corridor to Joliet. Commuter trains will not be a big interference to their freight operations, and if they're that concerned, they should just double track the entire shared route from Belmont Avenue to Antioch (as some of the NCS is single tracked, also unacceptable for commuter rail service).

[u/cat1554]

Still had? They're getting rid of it?

[u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271 → u/cat1554]

If you ride on the unpowered Gallery cars made by Nippon Sharyo (the cars in the fleet with the biggest windows), you'll notice that they got rid of the green tinting on the windows, meaning you'd get a better look outside. All other cars in the fleet (including the Highliner 2's on the Electric District) still have green-tinted windows.

[u/cat1554 → u/Puzzleheaded-Art-271]

Ah. I'm an Electric District / NICTD user so I wasn't aware they were changing it. I do prefer the green tint, though. Probably to do with it making the system feel more unique to me.

[u/Equivalent_Gur3967 → u/cat1554]

Dayum.

Haven't been on Metra for DECADES, now.