The Chicago "L" is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid transit system in the United States in terms of total route length, at 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long as of 2014, and the third-busiest rapid transit system in the United States after the New York City Subway and the Washington Metro. As of January 2024, the "L" had 1,480 rail cars operating across eight different routes on 224.1 miles of track. CTA trains make about 1,888 trips each day servicing 146 train stations. In 2023, the system had 117,447,000 rides, or about 400,000 per weekday in the second quarter of 2024.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and CTA bus service. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 279,146,200, or about 977,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Blue Line is a 26.93-mile-long (43.34 km) Chicago "L" line which extends through The Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and across the West Side to its southwest end at Forest Park, with a total of 33 stations. At about 27 miles, it is the longest line on the Chicago "L" system and second busiest, and one of the longest local subway/elevated lines in the world. It has an average of 64,978 passengers boarding each weekday in 2022.
The Green Line is a rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois, operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the Chicago "L" system. It is the only completely elevated route in the "L" system. All other routes may have various combinations of elevated, subway, street level, or freeway median sections.
The Pink Line is an 11.2 mi (18.0 km) rapid transit line in Chicago, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the Chicago "L" system. It is the CTA's newest rail line and began operation for a 180-day trial period on June 25, 2006, running between 54th/Cermak station in Cicero, Illinois and the Loop in downtown Chicago. As the line enters downtown Chicago, it begins to share tracks with Green Line trains on Lake Street. This connection is handled by the previously non-revenue Paulina Connector set of tracks. In 2022, over 3 million passengers boarded Pink Line trains.
Racine is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. The station serves the Near West Side neighborhood and the western end of the UIC campus.
Forest Park is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the village of Forest Park, Illinois and serving the Blue Line. Before the Congress Line was built, it served as terminal for the Garfield Line. It is the western terminus of the Forest Park branch. The station was known as Des Plaines until 1994. It is also referred to as the Forest Park Transit Center by Pace because it is a major terminal for Pace buses. The station contains a 1,051-space Park and Ride lot which uses the "Pay and Display" system, in which fees are paid at the lot entrance. It is located south of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad tracks which curve to the north of the station towards Madison Street where the line rechristens itself to the Canadian National Railway's Waukesha Subdivision.
The Lane Bryant shooting was an incident of mass murder and armed robbery at a Lane Bryant clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, that occurred on February 2, 2008. The shooting resulted in five people killed and a sixth injured.
On March 24, 2014, a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) passenger train overran the bumper at O'Hare station, injuring 34 people.
On May 30, 2021, twenty-three people were shot, of whom three were killed, in a mass shooting outside a banquet hall in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Some of the suspects in the shooting are still at large.
On the morning of April 12, 2022, a mass shooting was committed on a northbound N train on the New York City Subway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York, United States. At approximately 8:24 a.m. EDT, a 62-year-old Black nationalist Frank Robert James put on a gas mask, threw two smoke grenades, and fired a handgun 33 times. The shooting occurred as the train was traveling between the 59th Street and 36th Street stations.
On July 4, 2022, a mass shooting occurred during an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, United States. The shooting occurred at 10:14 a.m. CDT (UTC−05:00), roughly 15 minutes after the parade had started. Seven people were killed, and 48 others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel.
On January 21, 2024, a gunman opened fire on three separate occasions in and around Joliet, Illinois. A total of eight people were killed, and one person was injured. The perpetrator, 23-year-old Romeo Nance, who was related to seven of the victims, fatally shot himself a day later after being confronted by law enforcement officials near Natalia, Texas. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Illinois history, surpassing the shootings in Highland Park and Palatine. It is also the deadliest mass shooting of 2024 currently.
On September 7, 2024, five people were wounded during a mass shooting on Kentucky's Interstate 75. A gunman, subsequently identified as Joseph A. Couch, fired at least 20 rounds at passing cars from the overpass at exit 49. He escaped from the scene and was the subject of a manhunt. Couch's body was found 11 days later, having died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
