Although Metra owns the rolling stock, the trains are operated and dispatched by the Union Pacific Railroad.

[4] Until 2022, a private club car ran weekdays exclusively on the Union Pacific North Line.

Initially, a single train operated each day, departing from a terminal in Chicago at Water St. and Kinzie St. at 8:30 am and returning from Waukegan at 3:30 pm.

[6][7] The president of the railroad, former Chicago mayor Walter S. Gurnee, speculated on land in Lake County spurring the development of railway suburbs along the line.

[7][9] Commuter rail services along the line started operating into the new Chicago and North Western Terminal (now Ogilvie Transportation Center) in 1911.

In 1966, the Chicago and North Western closed the Lake Front Depot and began operating into the new Milwaukee Union Station.

The trains continued to be operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway under contract until that railroad was bought by Union Pacific in 1995.

Under a longstanding agreement that UP inherited from the C&NW, Metra owns the vehicles and the stations along the line, but Union Pacific employs the crew who actually operate the trains, and they also control the right-of-way along the route.