North Central Service

The North Central Service (NCS) is a Metra commuter rail line running from Union Station in downtown Chicago through northwestern and far northern suburbs to Antioch, Illinois. In April 2013 the public timetable shows 11 weekday departures from Chicago, one to Lake Villa and the rest to Antioch.

Between Union Station and River Grove stations the North Central Service shares tracks with Metra's Milwaukee District/West Line, but does not stop at any of the stations used by the MD-W between Western Avenue and River Grove. About a mile west of the River Grove, this route turns north at a junction known as tower B-12. The rest of the route operates on track owned and dispatched by the Canadian National Railway ("CN"). A single daily inbound train, #120, uses a combination of the North Central Service's trackage and the Milwaukee District North line's trackage by using a crossing with that line in Grayslake.

The CN assumed ownership of this route on September 7, 2001 when the CN absorbed the Wisconsin Central Railroad ("WC"). The WC operated this route after it was purchased from the Soo Line Railroad in April 1987. Metra provides its own crews for this service and operates under a trackage rights agreement with the CN.

North Central

North Central may refer to: