| 2600 series | |
|---|---|
 Rehabbed 2600 series cars on the Blue Line. | |
| In service | 1981–present |
| Manufacturer | Budd Company |
| Built at | Red Lion Plant, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Family name | High Performance |
| Constructed | 1981–1987 |
| Entered service | 1981 |
| Refurbishment | 1999–2002, [1] Alstom Plant, Hornell, New York |
| Number built | 600 |
| Number in service | 503 |
| Number scrapped | 31 |
| Formation | Married pair |
| Fleet numbers | 2601–3200 3458 (renumbered from 3032) |
| Capacity | 45 (seated-A car) 46 (seated-B car) |
| Operator(s) | Chicago Transit Authority |
| Depot(s) | Desplaines Yard Kimball Yard Midway Yard Rosemont Yard |
| Line(s) served | Blue Line Brown Line Orange Line |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | Stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets |
| Car length | 48 feet (14.63 m) |
| Width | 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) |
| Height | 12 feet (3.66 m) |
| Doors | 4 per car |
| Maximum speed | 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) |
| Weight | 54,140 pounds (24,560 kg) |
| Traction motors | 4 GE1262A1 per car |
| Power output | 110 horsepower (82 kW) each motor |
| Electric system(s) | 600 V DC third rail |
| Current collection method | Contact shoe |
| Braking system(s) | Regenerative Disc brakes |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The 2600 series is a series of Chicago "L" car built between 1981 and 1987 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 600 cars were built, and 503 of them remain in service as of 2019.
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 second-busiest rail mass transit system in the United States, after the New York City Subway. In 2016, the "L" had 1,492 rail cars, eight different routes, and 145 train stations; average weekday ridership was 759,866.
The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense products.
Philadelphia, known colloquially as Philly, is the largest city in the U.S. state and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the sixth-most populous U.S. city, with a 2018 census-estimated population of 1,584,138. Since 1854, the city has had the same geographic boundaries as Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the eighth-largest U.S. metropolitan statistical area, with over 6 million residents as of 2017. Philadelphia is also the economic and cultural anchor of the greater Delaware Valley, located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within the Northeast megalopolis. The Delaware Valley's population of 7.2 million ranks it as the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.
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The 2600 series was the fourth of five series of Chicago "L" cars known as the High Performance Family.
The 2600 series cars (numbered 2601–3200) were manufactured by the Budd Company, the same company that made the 2200 series. The cars were first delivered to the CTA in 1981, in time for the upcoming O'Hare Airport extension of the Kennedy Line (now known as the northwestern end of the Blue Line). Originally, an order was made for 300 cars, but this order was later increased to 600 cars, all of which were delivered from 1981 until 1987. They were the last railcars to be built by the Budd Company later renamed to Transit America.
The 2200 series was a series of Chicago "L" cars built in 1969 and 1970 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 150 cars were built. The last 8 2200-series cars were retired from service after their ceremonial last trips on the Blue Line on August 8, 2013. These cars were in service for 44 years. All cars except the preserved ones were scrapped by October 2015.
O'Hare is a Chicago 'L' station located at O'Hare International Airport, 17 miles (27 km) northwest of the Chicago Loop. It is the northwestern terminus of the CTA's Blue Line. It is a subway station with two island platforms serving three tracks, situated under the parking garage for Terminals 1, 2 and 3. Trains are scheduled to depart from O'Hare every 2–7 minutes during rush-hour periods and take about 40 minutes to travel to the Loop. It is the westernmost station of the Chicago 'L' system. It is also the only station without coordinates in Chicago's grid system, It is the only underground terminus, and is the only terminal that does not directly connect to any CTA or Pace buses. It is also one of two terminals that does not have a yard assigned to it.
The cars were rebuilt by Alstom of Hornell, New York, from 1999 until 2002. They are quite similar in design to the earlier 2400 series cars.
Alstom SA is a French multinational company operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar and Pendolino high-speed trains, in addition to suburban, regional and metro trains, as well as Citadis trams.
Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 8,563 at the 2010 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers.
Currently, these cars make up most of the Blue Line fleet and the entire Orange Line fleet, with some cars also assigned to the Brown Line. Car 3458 can be found on the Brown Line. In June 2014, as more 5000-series cars were being delivered, CTA began to transfer the Red Line's 2600-series cars to the Blue Line due to them being newer than the existing 2600-series Blue Line cars, transferring the Blue Line's older 2600-series cars to the Orange Line as an interim replacement for its 2400-series cars until the Red and Purple Lines are fully equipped with the 5000-series cars. Beginning in October 2014, CTA has also started to transfer some of the Red Line's 2600-series cars to the Orange Line to replace the rest of its 2400-series cars until the Red and Purple Lines are fully equipped with the 5000-series cars. However, since the delivery of all 5000-series cars is complete, the assignment of 2600-series cars on the Orange Line is now a permanent assignment until the delivery of the new 7000-series cars.
The Blue Line, also known as the O'Hare-Congress Line and the West-Northwest 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 It is the CTA's second busiest rail line, with an average of 186,796 passengers boarding each weekday in September 2012.
The Orange Line is a rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois run by the Chicago Transit Authority as part of the "L" system. It is approx. 12.5 miles (20.1 km) long and runs at grade and serves the Southwest Side, running from the Loop to Midway International Airport. In September 2012, the average weekday boardings on the Orange Line were 63,037.
The Brown Line of the Chicago "L" system, is an 11.4-mile (18.3 km) route with 27 stations between Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is almost entirely grade-separated. It is the third-busiest 'L' route, with an average of 63,481 passengers boarding each weekday in 2017.
From 1993 until 2015, these cars were used on the Red Line; for many years these cars were a mainstay of the Red Line, using these cars almost entirely except for 2400-series cars from time to time. These cars were removed from service from the Red Line in 2015 and replaced by the 5000-series cars, with its 2600-series cars being reassigned to the Blue and Orange Lines.
The Red Line, sometimes known as the Howard-Dan Ryan Line or the North-South Line, is a rapid transit line in Chicago, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the Chicago "L" system. It is the busiest line on the "L" system, with an average of 251,813 passengers boarding each weekday in 2012. The route is 23.4 miles (37.7 km) long with a total of 33 stations, from Howard station in Rogers Park on the north side, through the State Street subway and to 95th/Dan Ryan in Roseland on the south side. Like the Blue Line, the Red Line runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; the CTA is one of only five rapid transit systems in the United States to do so. A proposed extension adding four new stations would extend the Red Line south from 95th/Dan Ryan to 130th Street.
The 2400 series is a series of Chicago "L" cars built between 1976 and 1978 by Boeing-Vertol of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, with shells fabricated by Sorefame. 200 cars were built and on October 31, 2014, the series was retired from revenue service. These cars were in service for 38 years.
When the Yellow Line was converted to third rail power in 2004, the Yellow Line was usually operated with these cars from 2010 until 2014 when they were replaced by the 5000-series cars.
The Yellow Line, alternatively known as the Skokie Swift, is part of the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system in Chicago, Illinois. The 5.1-mile (8.2 km) route runs from the Howard Terminal on the north side of Chicago, through the southern part of Evanston and to the Dempster Terminal in Skokie, Illinois, making one intermediate stop at Oakton Street in Skokie.
When the Pink Line began service in 2006, its fleet consisted mostly of these cars with a few 2200-series cars. These cars were removed from service from the Pink Line on June 8, 2012 and were replaced by the 5000-series cars, with most of its 2600-series cars being reassigned to the Blue Line to replace its 2200-series cars.
From October 2013 until March 2015, some of these cars were also reassigned from the Red Line to the Purple Line as an interim replacement for its 2400-series cars, with these cars making up the majority of the Purple Line fleet until May 2014 when most were phased out in favor of the 5000-series cars. These cars were used on the Purple Line from 1993 until 2015.
In September and October 2018, several of these cars on the Blue Line were transferred to the Orange and Brown Lines in exchange for the 3200-series cars. The Orange Line now operates entirely with the 2600-series cars.
These cars were used for the West-Northwest, Lake/Dan Ryan, Howard/Englewood/Jackson Park, Ravenswood, and Evanston routes.
These cars have been used for all 8 "L" lines of the Chicago "L" system, although those that operated on the Green Line were usually borrowed cars from other lines.
300 of the 2600-series cars went out of service during the blizzard of 1999; the rehab of the 2600-series cars began shortly after the blizzard, with the first rehabbed cars going into service in March 1999. The rehab was completed in October 2002.
Budd/Transit America had completed car 3200 on April 3, 1987. [2] Car 3200 was not only the final railcar of the 2600-series order, but was the final railcar to be constructed by Budd/Transit America. Once the order was completed, Budd shut down its railcar business. Car 3200 can be found on the Blue Line.
