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.
Howard is an 'L' station in Chicago, Illinois on the North Side Main Line. It is the northern terminus of the Red Line and the southeastern terminus of the Yellow Line; it also serves the Purple Line, for which it is the southern terminus at non-rush hour times on weekdays and all day on weekends. Trains on the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad also stopped at Howard from 1926 until that line was abandoned in 1963.
Chicago, is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line. It serves a significant portion of the Near North Side and Streeterville neighborhoods. With over 5.25 million overall boardings in 2014, it is the busiest station on the Red Line north of the Loop.
Quincy is a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" system. It is located between the Washington/Wells and LaSalle/Van Buren stations on the Loop. The station is located above the intersection of Quincy Street and Wells Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Having opened in 1897, it is one of the oldest surviving stations on the 'L' system.
Clark/Division is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line. It is a subway station with one island platform located at 1200 North Clark Street, in the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago, between the Gold Coast and Old Town. Much of Chicago's North Loop nightlife, including the Rush Street district and many bars and nightclubs are located close to the station.
State/Lake is an 'L' station serving the CTA's Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines on The Loop. It is located in the Chicago Loop at 200 North State Street. Like all Loop stations, it has two side platforms. The CTA offers farecard transfers between this station and the Lake subway station on the Red Line. Unlike most stations, there is no in-station transfer between directions.
Ashland is an 'L' station on the CTA's Green and Pink Lines. It is an elevated station with two side platforms, located in Chicago's Near West Side neighborhood at 1601 West Lake Street. Just to the west of the station, the Pink Line branches off from the Lake Street branch to follow the Paulina Connector to the Douglas branch. The adjacent stations are Damen (Green), which is located about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) to the west, Polk (Pink), which is located about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south, and Morgan station, approximately 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) to the east.
Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren,, is an 'L' station serving the CTA's Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines. Originally, the station was to have direct access to the second floor of the Harold Washington Library building, but this direct connection was never built. Farecard transfers are also available at the station for the Red and Blue Lines via the Jackson/State and Jackson/Dearborn subway stations, respectively. It was originally known as State/Van Buren when it first opened in 1897. The original station closed on September 2, 1973, along with six other stations, due to low ridership, and demolished in 1975. The new station was rebuilt and reopened on June 22, 1997 in order to serve the Harold Washington Library. The Chicago Transit Authority board voted unanimously on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, to rename the station to its current name.
LaSalle/Van Buren is a Chicago "L" station in downtown Chicago serving the CTA's Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines. LaSalle/Van Buren is one of the eight stations in the Loop. The station opened on October 3, 1897. LaSalle Street Station, terminal for Metra's Rock Island District trains, is less than a block from the station.
Lake is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line in the Chicago Loop that is part of the State Street subway. Lake is a transfer station between the Red Line and the Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines at the State/Lake station and the Blue Line at Washington via the Chicago Pedway. In 2019, Lake had an average of 19,364 weekday passenger entries, making it the busiest 'L' station.
Monroe is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line. The station opened on October 17, 1943, as part of the State Street subway. The station is located in the Chicago Loop, and is open 24/7.
Jackson is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line in the Loop. Free transfers to Blue Line trains are available at this station via a lower level transfer tunnel to the Jackson station in the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and farecard transfers to Purple, Orange, Brown and Pink Line trains are available via the Harold Washington Library – State/Van Buren Loop Elevated station.
Washington is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. It is situated between the Clark/Lake and Jackson stations in the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway and is near the Richard J. Daley Center.
Jackson is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line, located in the Loop.
Clinton is a subway station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line and the West Loop neighborhood of the larger Near West Side community area. The Congress Branch of the Blue Line opened in June 1958, and connected to the existing Dearborn subway at LaSalle. It is the closest 'L' station to Union Station, which doubles as Chicago's Amtrak station and the downtown terminal for several Metra lines. It is also the closest station to Chicago's Greyhound bus terminal. Union Station is two blocks north, while Greyhound is one block west.
The Loop is the 1.79-mile-long (2.88 km) circuit of elevated rail that forms the hub of the Chicago "L" system in the United States. As of April 2024, the branch served 40,341 passengers on an average weekday. The Loop is so named because the elevated tracks loop around a rectangle formed by Lake Street, Wabash Avenue (east), Van Buren Street (south), and Wells Street (west). The railway loop has given its name to Chicago's downtown, which is also known as the Loop.
Roosevelt is an "L" station on the CTA's Red, Green, and Orange Lines, located between the Chicago Loop and the Near South Side in Chicago, Illinois. It is situated at 1167 S State Street, just north of Roosevelt Road. The station is also the closest "L" station to the Museum Campus of Chicago and Soldier Field, which are about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) to the east. The Museum Campus/11th Street Metra station is also about 1⁄3 mile (500 m) to the east.
The Logan Square branch was an elevated rapid transit line of the Chicago "L", where it was one of the branches of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. Diverging north from the Metropolitan's main line west of Marshfield station, it opened in 1895 and served Chicago's Logan Square and West Town neighborhoods. North of Damen station, the Humboldt Park branch diverged from the Logan Square branch, going west to serve Humboldt Park. The original Logan Square branch was separated into several sections in 1951, some of which remain in revenue service as of 2023.
71.7%(CTA)
