Knowledge Is Power

Metra vs Amtrak - How To Travel To Chicago Cheap From Southeast Wisconsin To Downtown Chicago For As Little As $10 Round Trip

When people in southeast Wisconsin want to travel to downtown Chicago, whether for a day trip or on business, they typically take the Amtrak Hiawatha service from Milwaukee or Sturtevant. However, if you're willing to do a bit more driving Metra, Chicago's regional commuter train service, is a much cheaper way of getting to downtown Chicago.

Amtrak recently raised their Hiawatha fare to $25 one-way ($28 one-way if you want to leave Milwaukee in the morning on weekdays) but you can take a Metra train on the Union-Pacific North Line (UP-North) from Kenosha for only $9.50 one-way on weekdays. On weekends Metra sells an unlimited-ride Weekend Pass for $10 that covers both Saturday and Sunday. The Amtrak train goes to Union station in downtown Chicago while the Metra train goes to the Ogilvie Transportation Center ("OTC") which is only three blocks north of Union Station near the corner of Washington and Canal Streets.

The Metra train station in Kenosha is approximately 8 miles from I-94 located close to Kenosha's lake front.

Click to enlarge map
If taking I-94 you can take exit number 342 which is State Highway 158 (52nd Street) which goes straight east to the train station. However, if you approaching from the north your GPS may have you get off at exit number 340 which is State Highway 142.

Exit number 340 State Highway 142 actually puts you on Burlington Road across from the Mars Cheese Castle. Burlington Road runs into 38th Street which then becomes Washington Road as you get closer to downtown Kenosha (see map above).

Whether you take exit 340 or 342 you'll want to:

• Go east about 8 miles to Sheridan Road.
• Turn right (south) onto Sheridan Road and go south to 54th Street.
• Turn right onto 54th Street and the train station is straight ahead (see photo below).

The addresses of the train station are:

5414 13th Avenue Kenosha, WI https://metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/UP-N/stations/KENOSHA

Several key things to note about this Metra station:

1. There is no heated or air-conditioned waiting room.
2. There is no agent on duty and no ticket vending machines.
3. As a result of the above you'll have to buy a one-way ticket from the conductor on the train ($9.50 cash only weekdays and $10 cash-only on weekends) or by using the Ventra app on your smart phone (the conductor will scan the barcode on your phone).

There is ample parking around the station for $5/day (it costs $8/day at the Milwaukee Amtrak station).

Parking Lot Entrance on 13th Ave Click photo to enlarge

Parking Lot South Of Station Click photo to enlarge

You pay for parking using one of the kiosks in the center of the station's circular driveway and leave the receipt on your dash.

There's a walk-way on the north side of the train station that leads to a tunnel. This tunnel is UNDER the Metra train platform. Do NOT go all the way through the tunnel. Half-way through the tunnel on your left are stairs that go up to the Metra platform. On the right is an elevator that goes up to the Metra platform.

Tunnel Under Metra Platform Click photo to enlarge

Stairs To Metra Platform Half-Way Through Tunnel Click photo to enlarge

Metra Kenosha Train Platform Click photo to enlarge

Metra Kenosah Train Platform Click photo to enlarge

Using the Kenosha Metra station can save you a lot of money but it's not all beer and Skittles. There are drawbacks. Here's a comparison with the traditional Amtrak Hiawatha service.

	Amtrak Hiawatha	Metra UP-N
Location	Milwaukee	Kenosha
Round-Trip Fare	$50 ($58 during commuter hours)	$19 ($10 on weekends)
All-Day Parking	$8	$5
Where To Buy Tickets	On line Web site or station agent	Train conductor or smart phone app
Number of Trains per Day total in both directions (Weekdays / Sat / Sun)	14 / 12 / 12 Last train leaves Chicago around 8:00 pm.	18 / 12 / 6 Last train leaves Chicago around 12:30 am.
Approx Train Travel Time	90 minutes	Varies by train (90 to 100 minutes)
Facilities	Indoors / Agent / Food / Restrooms	Outdoors / No Restrooms
WiFi	Limited (no streaming)	No

As you can see, there are fewer trains on Sundays (but more trains on weekdays) and there are no ammenities at the Kenosha train station. However, taking the Amtrak Hiawatha means you have to get back to Union Station by 7:30 pm which is very limiting as far as evening activities are concerned. Metra's last train doesn't leave for Kenosha until 12:30 am. The downside is that Metra only offers two trains back to Kenosha on Sunday evenings, 4:30 pm and 12:30 am.

The number of trains and times given above is based on Metra's mid-2018 schedule so you'll want to check the current schedule posted at the Kenosha station near the stairs or on their Web page for the UP-North line. Note that the travel time for the Metra train does not include the time it will take you to drive to the Kenosha station.

Take The Train To The Track! If you've ever wanted to go to the Arlington Park race track to bet on the horse races, you can take the UP-North line train all the way to the end (Ogilvie Transporation Center in downtown Chicago) and hop a UP-Northwest line train to the "Arlington Park" stop (not the "Arlington Heights" stop) and the race track is right there. I have a Web page that tells you, step-by-step, how to play the ponies at the Arlington Park race track.

If you like the idea of saving money but really want ammenities like agents, food and restrooms and/or more frequent trains there is one other option available to you. You can drive a little further to the Waukegan Metra station. Trains run much more frequently, it also has all-day parking for $5, and the round-trip fare is only about $15. By comparison, the Kenosha Metra station is 40 miles from the Milwaukee Amtrak station while the Waukegan Metra station is 55 miles from the Milwaukee Amtrak station. However, having driven to both stations I can tell you that it takes considerably longer to get to the Waukegan station because of the truck traffic on US Highway 41, the fact that its harder to find the Waukegan station, and it takes longer to go through Waukegan than it takes to go through Kenosha.

If cost isn't your top concern there are benefits with taking the Amtrak Hiawatha service. Better facilities, limited WiFi and, if you live near Milwaukee, faster overall travel time and the convenience of not having to drive to Kenosha are all factors you'll want to consider. That being said, a $40 savings per round-trip ticket on the weekends (and a $3 savings on parking) is hard to pass up, especially when two or more people are traveling.


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