Winnetka station

Winnetka is a station on Metra's Union Pacific/North Line located in Winnetka, Illinois. Winnetka, located at 754 Elm Street in Winnetka, is 16.6mi away from Ogilvie Transportation Center, the inbound terminus of the Union Pacific/North Line. In Metra's zone-based fare structure, Winnetka is located within zone D.Winnetka station is located in a below-grade trench. The platforms are accessible via stairs from Elm and Oak Streets and a passenger bridge. An elevator for handicapped access is also located on the passenger bridge. The station consists of two side platforms which serve two tracks. A station house is located at street level; the station house is open from 5:15 A.M. to 1:15 P.M., and tickets are sold on weekdays. Parking is available in a lot adjacent to the station house. The Green Bay Trail, a hiking and bicycle trail, runs east of and parallel to the railroad tracks at Winnetka and can be accessed from the inbound platform.Winnetka was originally built at grade level when it served the Chicago and North Western Railway. As an increasing amount of railroad traffic came through Winnetka, the railroad crossings became unsafe, and 29 people had been killed at railroad crossings by 1937 despite safety efforts by the city and the railroad. After the deaths of two prominent Winnetka women at the Pine Street crossing on October 20, 1937, Winnetkans demanded that the grade crossings be removed. The city elected to put the tracks in a below-grade trench to avoid dividing the city with an elevated railroad. With the help of funding from the Public Works Administration, the tracks were lowered into a trench by 1943. Winnetka and Hubbard Woods stations were located at street level with access to station platforms by stairs from a pedestrian walkway across the tracks, and Indian Hill became an elevated station.