NCS Line (North Central Service) — Metra schedule & live train times

The NCS Line — Metra's North Central Service route — runs between Antioch and Chicago Union Station, serving 18 stations. A typical weekday has 14 trains, 7 of them toward downtown.

See live NCS departures →

At a glance

Downtown terminal: Chicago Union Station
Outer terminal: Antioch
Stations: 18
Weekday trains: 14 (7 toward downtown, 7 outbound)
Saturday / Sunday trains: No weekend service
End to end: 92–103 min (express to all-stops)
First weekday train to downtown: 5:12 AM from Antioch
Last weekday train to downtown: 3:40 PM from Antioch
Express runs: 0 of 7 from Antioch
Fare zones: 1, 2, 3, 4
One-way to downtown: $3.75–$6.75

Every NCS station

In order from Antioch to Chicago Union Station. Fares are the full one-way adult fare to Chicago Union Station, priced by fare zone.

Station	Zone	One-way downtown
Antioch	4	$6.75
Lake Villa	4	$6.75
Round Lake Beach	4	$6.75
Washington St (Grayslake)	4	$6.75
Prairie Crossing	4	$6.75
Mundelein	4	$6.75
Vernon Hills	4	$6.75
Prairie View	4	$6.75
Buffalo Grove	4	$6.75
Wheeling	3	$5.50
Prospect Hts	3	$5.50
O'Hare Transfer · Chicago	2	$3.75
Rosemont	2	$3.75
Schiller Park	2	$3.75
Franklin Pk	2	$3.75
River Grove	2	$3.75
Western Ave	2	$3.75
Chicago Union Station	1	—

Day Pass and Monthly prices, and fares between two suburban stations, are in the app's fare sheet.

Live times, delays and alerts

The numbers above are the published schedule. For what's actually running — live departures, delay minutes, cancellations and NCS service alerts — open the app and pick your two stations. It's free, installs to your phone, and works offline on the last schedule it loaded.

Open NCS live times →

Other Metra lines

BNSF — Burlington Northern · HC — Heritage Corridor · MD-N — Milwaukee North · MD-W — Milwaukee West · ME — Metra Electric · RI — Rock Island · SWS — Southwest Service · UP-N — Union Pacific North · UP-NW — Union Pacific Northwest · UP-W — Union Pacific West