# River Forest station

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Commuter rail station in River Forest, Illinois

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2016)

River Forest River Forest station in September 2006. General information Location 8001 West Central Street River Forest, Illinois 60305 Coordinates 41°53′13″N 87°49′30″W / 41.8870°N 87.8249°W / 41.8870; -87.8249 Owned by Union Pacific Platforms 1 side platform (formerly 2) 1 island platform Tracks 3 (formerly 4) Connections Pace Construction Accessible No Other information Fare zone 2 History Opened 1915; 111 years ago (1915) Passengers 2018 448 (average weekday)[1] 2.3% Rank 107 out of 236[1] Services Preceding station Metra Following station Maywood toward Elburn Union Pacific West Oak Park toward Ogilvie TC Former services Preceding station Chicago and North Western Railway Following station Bellwood toward Omaha Main Line Oak Park toward Chicago Maywood toward Geneva Galena Division Lathrop Avenue toward Chicago Track layout Legend UPW west to Elburn Central Ave. Thatcher Ave. Hawthorne Ave. Thatcher Ave. Gale Ave. Keystone Ave. Central Ave. UPW east to Ogilvie TC Location

**River Forest** is a [Metra](/source/Metra) commuter [railroad station](/source/Railroad_station) in [River Forest, Illinois](/source/River_Forest%2C_Illinois), [United States](/source/United_States), a western suburb of [Chicago](/source/Chicago), on the [Union Pacific West Line](/source/Union_Pacific_West_Line). Trains go east to [Ogilvie Transportation Center](/source/Ogilvie_Transportation_Center) in Chicago and as far west as [Elburn, Illinois](/source/Elburn%2C_Illinois). Travel time to Ogilvie is 20 to 24 minutes. As of 2018[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=River_Forest_station&action=edit), River Forest is the 107th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 448 weekday boardings.[1] 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](/source/Pace_(transit)) suburban buses stop one block to the north on Lake Street. To the east is an overpass that carries the [Canadian National Railway](/source/Canadian_National_Railway)'s Waukesha Subdivision into Forest Park where the line rechristens itself to the CSX Altenheim Subdivision ([B&OCT](/source/B%26OCT)).

The station building was originally built in 1915[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] by the [Chicago and North Western Railway](/source/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

**[Pace](/source/Pace_(transit))**

- 309 Lake Street

- 313 St. Charles Road

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_1-2) ["Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190526034459/https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/planning/ridership/2018_summary_results_report_final.pdf) (PDF). *metrarail.com*. April 2019. Archived from [the original](https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/planning/ridership/2018_summary_results_report_final.pdf) (PDF) on May 26, 2019.

## External links

- [Metra - River Forest](http://www.metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_w/river_forest.shtml)

- [Thatcher Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View](https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.886927,-87.825437&spn=0.001026,0.002406&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.887015,-87.825444&panoid=D5Q1Y09qz2-kVeDU62aI8A&cbp=12,98.3,,0,-1.81)

v t e Metra stations BNSF Union Station Halsted Street Western Avenue Cicero Clyde (closed) LaVergne Berwyn Harlem Avenue Riverside Hollywood Brookfield Congress Park LaGrange Road Stone Avenue Western Springs Highlands Hinsdale West Hinsdale Clarendon Hills Westmont Fairview Avenue Main Street Belmont Lisle Naperville Route 59 Aurora Heritage Corridor Union Station Glenn (closed) Summit Willow Springs Lemont Romeoville 5th Street (closed) Lockport Joliet Metra Electric Millennium Station Van Buren Street Museum Campus 18th Street McCormick Place 27th Street 47th Street 51st/​53rd Street 55th/56th/57th Street 59th/​60th Street 63rd Street 75th Street 79th Street 83rd Street 87th Street 91st Street 95th Street 103rd Street 107th Street 111th Street 115th Street Riverdale Ivanhoe 147th Street Harvey Hazel Crest Calumet Homewood Flossmoor Olympia Fields 211th Street Matteson Richton Park University Park South Chicago Branch Stony Island Bryn Mawr South Shore 75th Street 79th Street 83rd Street 87th Street 91st Street (closed) 93rd Street Blue Island Branch State Street Stewart Ridge West Pullman Racine Avenue Ashland/​Calumet Park Burr Oak Blue Island Milwaukee District North Union Station Western Avenue Healy Grayland Mayfair Forest Glen Edgebrook Morton Grove Golf Glenview The Glen Northbrook Lake Cook Road Deerfield Lake Forest Libertyville Prairie Crossing Grayslake Round Lake Long Lake Ingleside Fox Lake Milwaukee District West Union Station Western Avenue Hermosa (closed) Grand/​Cicero Cragin (closed) Hanson Park Galewood Mars Mont Clare Elmwood Park River Grove Franklin Park Mannheim Bensenville Wood Dale Itasca Medinah Roselle Schaumburg Hanover Park Bartlett National Street Elgin Big Timber Road Rockford Intercity Passenger Rail Belvidere (future) Rockford (future) North Central Service Union Station Western Avenue River Grove Belmont Avenue Schiller Park Rosemont O'Hare Transfer Prospect Heights Wheeling Buffalo Grove Prairie View Vernon Hills Mundelein Prairie Crossing Washington Street Round Lake Beach Lake Villa Antioch Rock Island LaSalle 35th Street Auburn Park (closed; future) Gresham 95th Street 99th Street (closed) 103rd Street Blue Island/​Vermont Street Robbins Midlothian Oak Forest Tinley Park 80th Avenue Hickory Creek Mokena New Lenox Joliet Beverly Branch Brainerd 91st Street 95th Street 99th Street 103rd Street 107th Street 111th Street 115th Street 119th Street 123rd Street Prairie Street SouthWest Service Union Station Wrightwood Ashburn Oak Lawn Patriot Chicago Ridge Worth Palos Heights Palos Park 143rd Street 153rd Street 179th Street Laraway Road Manhattan Union Pacific North Ogilvie TC Clybourn Ravenswood Peterson/​Ridge Rogers Park Main Street Davis Street Central Street Wilmette Kenilworth Indian Hill Winnetka Hubbard Woods Glencoe Braeside Ravinia Park Ravinia Highland Park Highwood Fort Sheridan Lake Forest Lake Bluff Great Lakes North Chicago Abbott's Platform (closed) Waukegan Zion Winthrop Harbor Kenosha Union Pacific Northwest Ogilvie TC Clybourn Irving Park Jefferson Park Gladstone Park Norwood Park Edison Park Park Ridge Dee Road Des Plaines Cumberland Mount Prospect Arlington Heights Arlington Park Palatine Barrington Fox River Grove Cary Pingree Road Crystal Lake Woodstock Harvard McHenry Branch McHenry Union Pacific West Ogilvie TC Kedzie Oak Park River Forest Maywood Melrose Park Bellwood Berkeley Elmhurst Villa Park Lombard Glen Ellyn College Avenue Wheaton Winfield West Chicago Geneva La Fox Elburn Category Bold denotes downtown terminals Italics denote closed stations, future stations, and unused line segments.

v t e River Forest, Illinois Schools River Forest Public Schools Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Trinity High School Other education Dominican University Concordia University Chicago River Forest Public Library Landmarks River Forest Metra station Winslow House This list is incomplete.'

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [River Forest station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Forest_station) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Forest_station?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.