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 416,200 per weekday in the third quarter of 2024.
The Blue Line is a 26.93-mile-long (43.34 km) Chicago "L" line which runs 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 in 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 72,475 passengers boarding each weekday in 2023.
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. This line is also the only route with three terminals: trains departing Harlem/Lake alternate destinations between Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove.
Argyle is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line, located at 1118 West Argyle Street in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is an elevated station with an island platform. Purple Line weekday rush hour express service passes through this station but does not stop, normally on the outermost tracks, but due to the reconstruction going on until summer 2025, they currently use the same tracks as Red Line trains.
Southport is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is situated between the Paulina and Belmont stations on the Brown Line, which runs between Albany Park on Chicago's Northwest Side and downtown Chicago. It is an elevated station with two side platforms located at 3411 North Southport Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community area.
Cicero is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. It opened on March 3, 1894, and serves the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West side. Until 1948, the next station towards the Chicago Loop was Kostner. The station is 24 blocks east and 2 blocks north of Harlem.
Irving Park is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. The station is located in the median of the Kennedy Expressway in the Irving Park neighborhood, though it draws its name from its cross street. Irving Park is one of two stations on the Blue Line that stops in an expressway median where the entrance is below the platform; Rosemont is the other, specifically beneath the westbound lane of the Kennedy Expressway. The station opened in 1970 as a part of the Kennedy extension of the Milwaukee Elevated from Logan Square to Jefferson Park.
Racine is an 'L' station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line. The station serves the Near West Side neighborhood and the western end of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) campus.
Western is a station on the 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch. It is located in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway. It serves the Near West Side neighborhood and Crane Tech High School. The station is also located about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the Western Avenue commuter railroad station.
Kedzie–Homan is an 'L' station on the CTA Blue Line's Forest Park branch. The station is located in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway and serving the East Garfield Park neighborhood and has two entrances on the Kedzie and Homan Avenue overpasses.
Pulaski is a station on the Chicago 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch. The station is located in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway and serves the West Garfield Park neighborhood. A long ramp connects the platform to the station house on the Pulaski Road overpass. There was originally a similar entrance from the Keeler Avenue overpass; the entrance from Keeler was closed to cut costs on January 15, 1973, but retained as an exit, and the exit was fully closed on December 28, 1978. The structure for this exit still stands but it is closed to the public.
Oak Park is a station on the Chicago 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch and Oak Park, Illinois. The station is alongside the Eisenhower Expressway between Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue, near the Oak Park Conservatory. The auxiliary entrance on East Avenue is half a block from the Oak Park Conservatory.
Harlem is a station on the 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch in Forest Park, Illinois. The station was built with an auxiliary entrance at Circle Avenue that was eventually converted to a single turnstile facility. The Circle Avenue entrance reopened as an auxiliary entrance/exit on September 26, 2009, at 4 PM. To the south of the station is the Ferrara Candy Company A Roos chest-making factory was located west of the station and Circle Avenue until it was torn down in 2013 to make way for a new recreation park that opened there in 2018. The Roos company closed for good in 1951.
California is an abandoned rapid transit station in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is located in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, The station served the Chicago Transit Authority's Congress Line, which is now part of the Blue Line. California opened on June 22, 1958, and closed on September 2, 1973, as part of a group of budget-related CTA station closings.
The Metropolitan main line was a rapid transit line of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. It ran west from downtown to a junction at Marshfield station. At this point the Garfield Park branch continued westward, while the Douglas Park branch turned south, and the Logan Square branch turned north with the Humboldt Park branch branching from it. In addition to serving the Chicago "L", its tracks and those of the Garfield Park branch also carried the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an interurban that served Chicago's western suburbs, between 1905 and 1953.
The Lake Street Elevated, also known as the Lake branch, is a 8.75 mi (14.08 km) long branch of the Chicago "L" which is located west of the Chicago Loop and serves the Green Line for its entire length, as well as the Pink Line east of Ashland Avenue. As of February 2013, the branch serves an average of 27,217 passengers each weekday. It serves the Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and Austin neighborhoods of Chicago, as well as the suburbs Oak Park and Forest Park. It owes its name to Lake Street, the street that the branch overlooks for 6.25 mi (10.06 km) before continuing its route straight west, adjacent to South Boulevard, towards the terminus at Harlem/Lake.
The Cermak branch, formerly known as the Douglas branch, is a 6.6 mi (10.6 km) long section of the Pink Line of the Chicago "L" system in Chicago, Illinois. It was built by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated west of the Loop. As of February 2013, it serves an average of 17,474 passengers every weekday. The branch serves the Near West Side, Pilsen, Lower West Side, South Lawndale, and North Lawndale neighborhoods of Chicago, and the west suburb Cicero, Illinois. The branch operates from 4:05 a.m. to 1:25 a.m., weekdays, and Saturdays from 5:05 a.m. to 1:25 a.m., and Sundays from 5:00 a.m. to 1:25 a.m., including holidays.
The Garfield Park Branch was a rapid transit line which was part of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. The branch served Chicago's Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and Austin neighborhoods, and the suburbs of Oak Park, and Forest Park, and consisted of twenty-two stations. It opened on June 19, 1895 and closed on June 22, 1958, when it was replaced by the Congress branch of the Blue Line.
Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" in service between 1895 and 1954. Constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, it was the westernmost station of the Metropolitan's main line, which then diverged into three branches. Marshfield was also served by the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C) and its descendant the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban, between 1905 and 1953.
Laflin was a rapid transit station operated by the Chicago "L"'s Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad and located on its main line. The station existed from 1895 to 1951, when it was closed due to low ridership. The entire main line would soon be demolished for construction of the Eisenhower Expressway and its Congress Line, and the niche served by the Laflin would be filled by an entrance on the new line's Racine station.
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