River Forest station
Commuter rail station in River Forest, Illinois
title: "River Forest station" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["metra-stations-in-illinois", "former-chicago-and-north-western-railway-stations", "railway-stations-in-cook-county,-illinois", "railway-stations-in-the-united-states-opened-in-1915", "river-forest,-illinois", "union-pacific-west-line"] description: "Commuter rail station in River Forest, Illinois" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Forest_station" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Commuter rail station in River Forest, Illinois ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox station"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| style | Metra |
| name | {{Metra header |
| icon | }} |
| image | RiverForestILMetraStation.jpg |
| image_caption | River Forest station in September 2006. |
| address | 8001 West Central Street |
| River Forest, Illinois 60305 | |
| coordinates | |
| other | Pace |
| platform | 1 side platform (formerly 2) |
| 1 island platform | |
| tracks | 3 (formerly 4) |
| passengers | 448 (average weekday) |
| pass_year | 2018 |
| pass_percent | 2.3 |
| pass_rank | 107 out of 236 |
| opened | |
| accessible | No |
| owned | Union Pacific |
| zone | 2 |
| services | |
| other_services_header | Former services |
| other_services_collapsible | yes |
| other_services | {{Adjacent stations |
| line2 | Galena Division |
| map_state | collapsed |
| route_map | {{Routemap |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-zoom | 15 |
| mapframe-marker-color | #ffb2b9 |
| mapframe-marker | rail |
| :: |
| style=Metra | name={{Metra header|River Forest | icon=}} | type= | image=RiverForestILMetraStation.jpg | image_caption=River Forest station in September 2006. | address=8001 West Central Street River Forest, Illinois 60305 | coordinates= | line= | other= Pace | structure= | platform=1 side platform (formerly 2) 1 island platform | levels= | tracks=3 (formerly 4) | parking= | bicycle= | passengers=448 (average weekday) | pass_year=2018 | pass_percent=2.3 | pass_rank=107 out of 236 | pass_system= | opened= | closed= | rebuilt= | electrified= | accessible=No | code= | owned=Union Pacific | zone=2 | former= | services= |other_services_header = Former services |other_services_collapsible=yes |other_services={{Adjacent stations|system=Chicago and North Western Railway|line1=Main Line|left=Bellwood|right1=Oak Park |line2=Galena Division|left2=Maywood|right2=Lathrop Avenue}} | map_state = collapsed | route_map = {{Routemap|legend=track|inline=y|map= \STR!~MFADEg\vSTR!~MFADEg\RP2!~MFADEg ~~ ~~ ~~ west to \STRg\vSTR!~v-NULf\RP2!~POINTERg@fq ~~ Central Ave. RP2+r!~POINTERg@fq\STR\vSTR\RP2 ~~ ~~ ~~ RP2eRP2\RP2w!~MSTR!~STR!~lhSTR(r)\vSTR!~lhvSTR(l)\RP2nRP2 ~~ Thatcher Ave. RP2\PSTR(L)\vSTR\PLTr RP2wRP2!~POINTERg@fq\PSTR(L)\vSTR\PLTr ~~ Gale Ave. RP2\PSTR(L)\vSTR\PLTr RP2eRP2\RP2w!~MSTR!~STR!~lhSTR(r)\vSTR!~lhvSTR(l)\RP2sRP1 ~~ Keystone Ave. RP2\STRg\vSTR!~v-NULf\RP1!~NULg!~POINTERg@fq ~~ Central Ave. RP2!~MFADEf\STR!~MFADEf\vSTR!~MFADEf\RP1!~MFADEf ~~ ~~ ~~ east to | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 15 | mapframe-marker-color = #ffb2b9 | mapframe-marker = rail | mpassengers=
River Forest is a Metra commuter railroad station in River Forest, Illinois, United States, a western suburb of Chicago, on the Union Pacific West Line. Trains go east to Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago and as far west as Elburn, Illinois. Travel time to Ogilvie is 20 to 24 minutes. , River Forest is the 107th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 448 weekday boardings. Unless otherwise announced, inbound trains use the north (side) platform and outbound trains use the south (island) platform.
As of September 8, 2025, River Forest is served by 43 trains (21 inbound, 22 outbound) on weekdays, by all 20 trains (10 in each direction) on Saturdays, and by all 18 trains (nine in each direction) on Sundays and holidays.
The station is at Central Avenue and Thatcher Avenue. The surrounding neighborhood is mostly characterized by single-family homes, baseball fields and tennis courts. Pace suburban buses stop one block to the north on Lake Street. To the east is an overpass that carries the Canadian National Railway's Waukesha Subdivision into Forest Park where the line rechristens itself to the CSX Altenheim Subdivision (B&OCT).
The station building was originally built in 1915 by the Chicago and North Western Railway and is also the River Forest Park District headquarters.
The station has recently undergone renovations. The inbound platform was rebuilt along with the stairways.
Bus connections
- 309 Lake Street
- 313 St. Charles Road
References
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::