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Yesterday, Metra and Chicago-area officials marked the start of construction for a new Ravenswood Station on the Union Pacific North Line.

The $18.3 million facility will replace the existing station, which serves more than 2,000 riders per day and is the busiest outlying station on the UP North Line, Metra officials said in a prepared statement.

The new station will feature longer, covered platforms and warming shelters on both sides, improved lighting, space for a ticket office and vendor, ramps, stairs and landscaping. It will be built to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

“The new station with its longer platforms will better serve the growing number of Ravenswood riders and improve loading times at the station, which will result in more timely and efficient train service,” Metra officials said.

The station reconstruction is part of a $215 million effort to replace UP North Line bridges over 22 streets on Chicago’s north side. The outbound portion of the new Ravenswood Station is slated for completion in fall 2013; the inbound portion will be built as part of the larger project’s second phase, which is expected to take about two years to complete.