Chicago 'L' - Lines

Lines

See also: List of Chicago 'L' stations Chicago Transit Authority control tower 18 guides elevated north and southbound Purple and Brown lines intersecting with east and westbound Pink and Green lines and the looping Orange line above the Wells and Lake street intersection in the loop. The Purple Line serves Evanston, IL and Wilmette, IL, with weekday rush hour express service to downtown Chicago.

Since 1993 'L' lines have been officially identified by color, although older route names survive to some extent in CTA publications and popular usage to distinguish branches of longer lines:

█ Red Line, consisting of the Howard, State Street Subway and Dan Ryan branches

The Red Line is the busiest route, serving an average of 268,580 passengers each weekday as of September 2012. It includes 33 stations on its 21.8-mile (35 km) route, traveling from Howard Street terminal on the city's northern border with Evanston, through downtown Chicago via the State Street subway, then down the Dan Ryan Expressway median to 95th Street on the South Side. Despite its length, the Red Line stops five miles short of the city's southern border. Extension plans to 130th are currently being considered. The Red Line is one of two lines operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is the only transit line that goes near both Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field, the homes of Chicago's Major League Baseball teams, the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox respectively.

█ Blue Line, consisting of the O'Hare, Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway, and Congress branches.

The Blue Line extends from O'Hare International Airport through the Loop via the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway to the West Side. Trains travel to Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park via the Eisenhower Expressway median. The route from O'Hare to Des Plaines Avenue is 26.93 miles (43 km) long. The combined number of stations is 33. Until 1970 the northern section of the Blue Line terminated at Logan Square, during which time it was called the Milwaukee route after Milwaukee Avenue which ran parallel to it; in that year service was extended to Jefferson Park via the Kennedy Expressway median, and in 1984 to O'Hare. The Blue Line is the second-busiest, with 186,796 weekday boardings. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

█ Brown Line, or Ravenswood Line

The Brown Line follows an 11.4-mile (18 km) route, with 19 stations between Kimball Avenue in Albany Park and the Loop in downtown Chicago. As of September 2012, the Brown Line has an average weekday ridership of 113,611.

█ Green Line, consisting of the Lake Street, South Side Elevated and Englewood-Jackson Park branches

A completely elevated route utilizing the system's oldest segments (dating back to 1892), the Green Line extends 20.8 miles (33.5 km) with 29 stops between Forest Park and Oak Park (Harlem/Lake), through The Loop, to the South Side. South of the Garfield station the line branches, with trains alternately heading to Ashland/63rd in Englewood and Cottage Grove/63rd in Woodlawn. The East 63rd branch formerly extended to Jackson Park, but the portion east of Cottage Grove, which ran above 63rd Street, was demolished in the 1980s and 1997 due to structural problems and then replaced due to community demands. The average number of weekday boardings is 70,554.

█ Orange Line or Midway Line

The 13-mile (21 km) long Orange Line was constructed in the early 1990s on existing railroad embankments and new concrete and steel elevated structure. It runs from a station adjacent to Chicago Midway International Airport on the Southwest Side to The Loop in downtown Chicago. Average weekday ridership is 63,037.

█ Purple Line, consisting of the Evanston Shuttle and Evanston Express

The Purple Line is a 3.9-mile (6 km) branch serving north suburban Evanston and Wilmette with express service to the Loop during weekday rush hours. The local service operates from the Wilmette terminal at Linden Avenue through Evanston to the Howard Street terminal where it connects with the Red and Yellow lines. The weekday rush hour express service continues from Howard to the Loop, running nonstop on the four-track line used by the Red Line to Belmont station, then serving all Brown Line stops to the Loop. Average weekday ridership is 10,377 on the Evanston line and 45,036 including the southern portion. The stops from Belmont to Chicago Avenue were added in the 1990s to relieve crowding on the Red and Brown lines. The name "purple line" is a reference to nearby Northwestern University, with four stops (Davis, Foster, Noyes, and Central) located just two blocks west of the University campus.

█ Pink Line consisting of the Douglas Branch and Paulina Connector

The Pink Line is a 11.2-mile (18 km) rerouting of former Blue Line Douglas Park branch trains from 54th/Cermak in Cicero via the previously non-revenue Paulina Connector and the Green Line on Lake Street to the Loop. Its average weekday ridership is 33,737. While still an extension of the original Douglas Park branch, the line ran to Oak Park Avenue in Berwyn, four miles west of its current terminal point. In 1952 service on the portion of the line past 54th Avenue was shut down and over the next decade the stations were dismantled and the tracks were either pulled up or paved over. The street level right-of-way is used to this day as a miles-long parking lot, locally known as the " 'L' Strip".

█ Yellow Line, or Skokie Swift

The Yellow Line is a 4.7-mile (8 km) three station line that runs from the Howard Street terminal to Skokie terminal in suburban Skokie. The Yellow Line is the only 'L' route that does not provide direct service to the Loop. This line was originally part of the North Shore Line's interurban rail service, and was acquired by the CTA in the 1960s. The Yellow Line previously operated as a nonstop shuttle, until the downtown Skokie station Oakton-Skokie opened on April 30, 2012. Other plans in consideration are to extend the line from its current Dempster Street terminus to Old Orchard via an elevated right of way and the construction of an infill station in Evanston. Its average weekday ridership is 7,063.

The Loop

Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple Line Express trains serve downtown Chicago via the Loop elevated. The Loop's nine stations average 80,226 weekday boardings.

The Orange Line, Purple Line and the Pink Line run clockwise, the Brown Line runs counter-clockwise. The Green Line is the Loop's only through service; the other four lines circle the Loop and return to their starting points. The Loop forms a rectangle roughly 0.4 miles (650 m long) east-to-west and 0.6 miles (960 m) long north-to-south.