Kensington/115th Street station

Kensington/115th Street is a commuter rail station on the far south side of Chicago that serves the Metra Electric Line north to Millennium Station and south to University Park and Blue Island. The station is located at 115th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in the Pullman & West Pullman, Chicago neighborhoods. It is the last station for Blue Island Branch trains before those split off of the main line for Blue Island. As of 2018, the station is the 37th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 1,136 weekday boardings.[1] The South Shore Line diverges to Indiana immediately south of this station. It had previously stopped at this station prior to February 15, 2012, with the reconfiguration of the junction to minimize congestion.[2]

Kensington/115th Street
General information
Location115th Street & Cottage Grove Avenue
Pullman, Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41.686462°N 87.612027°W / 41.686462; -87.612027
Owned byMetra
Line(s)University Park Sub District
Platforms1 Island platform (formerly 2)
Tracks3
ConnectionsLocal Transit CTA Bus
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zoneC (Metra)
History
Opened1916
Electrified1926 (1500 V DC)
Passengers
20181,136 (average weekday)[1]Increase 1.4%
Rank37 out of 236[1]
Services
Preceding station Metra Following station
Riverdale Metra Electric
Main Line
111th Street (Pullman)
State Street Metra Electric
Blue Island Branch
Former services
Preceding station NICTD Following station
63rd Street South Shore Line Hegewisch
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
Harvey Main Line 63rd Street
toward Chicago
130th Street (Wildwood)
toward Richton
Electric Suburban
Main Line
111th Street
State Street–Rose Lawn Electric Suburban
Blue Island Branch
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Hammond
toward Detroit
Michigan Central Railroad
Main Line
63rd Street
toward Chicago
Harvey
toward Cincinnati
ChicagoCincinnati
Location

In 1991, an advocacy group formed to press Metra to make necessary cosmetic and safety upgrades to this station, one of the busiest on the Metra Electric line. Dubbed "Operation Restore Kensington," the group pressured railroad officials to work closely with the city to upgrade parking, enhance station lighting, landscaping and security, and persuade local vendors to open concession stands in the station. For its efforts, O.R.K. monitored the railroad's efforts to build a brand new station and assisted with the railroad's efforts to increase station parking facilities. O.R.K. was disbanded in the 1990s.

The station was also served by Illinois Central intercity-trains from Chicago to points south.[3]

A station typology adopted by the Chicago Plan Commission on October 16, 2014, assigns the Kensington/115th Street station a typology of Local Activity Center. A Local Activity Center typology is primarily characterized by the Metra station being the central focus of a built-up and identifiable neighborhood.[4]

Photo of the original Kensington station

Bus connections

CTA

  • 4 Cottage Grove
  • 111A Pullman Shuttle
  • 115 Pullman/115th

Improvements:

  • Newly paved parking area as of 2020.
  • Improvement projects near Cottage Grove Avenue which is connected to the Pullman neighborhood improvements.

See also

References

  1. "Commuter Rail System Station Boarding/Alighting Count: Summary Results Fall 2018" (PDF). Metra. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2019.
  2. "SOUTH SHORE TO DISCONTINUE SERVICE TO KENSINGTON/115TH ST. STATION". Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. December 9, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  3. Illinois Central Schedule June 1941.
  4. Teska Associates, Inc., Fish Transportation Group, and OKW Architects (October 16, 2014). "City of Chicago & METRA Station Typology Study" (PDF). Chicago: Regional Transportation Authority. Retrieved January 15, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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