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The Alton Junction, more commonly known as the 21st Street Crossing, is a historically significant rail location in Chicago, Illinois. The junction can be found just east of Canal Street and north of Cermak Road near Chicago's Chinatown. The junction, which is found just south of a massive vertical lift bridge that spans the Chicago River, guards the entrance to Chicago's Union Station. While a significant amount of rail traffic still traverses this interlock everyday, it has been greatly reduced from using 26 diamonds to control over 150 trains using the crossing.
The north-south line is the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline, which is now owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. North of the lift bridge, ownership of the tracks transfers to Amtrak. All of Amtrak's East Coast bound and Michigan trains use this track. The east-west line now belongs to the Canadian National Railway. It at one time was owned by Illinois Central and was the carrier's route out of its Central Station to Iowa.
