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.
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.
43rd is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system in the Grand Boulevard community area in Chicago, Illinois, on the Green Line at 314 E 43rd Street, three blocks east of State Street. It opened on August 15, 1892, when the South Side Elevated Railroad extended service south to serve the World Columbian Exposition in 1893.
King Drive station is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is located in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois and serves the Green Line's East 63rd branch. The station is situated at 400 East 63rd Street. The station opened on May 1, 1893. King Drive only allows boarding on the inbound platform ; the outbound platform is exit-only.
California is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line's Lake Branch. It opened on November 6, 1893. California closed on February 9, 1992, as part of a series of budget cuts, but later reopened with the completion of the Green Line rehabilitation.
Conservatory–Central Park Drive is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. The station opened on June 30, 2001. It is located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood and named for the Garfield Park Conservatory just outside the station.
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.
Ridgeland is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. It is located in the suburb of Oak Park just west of Chicago. To the north of the station is the triple tracked Union Pacific West Line.
North/Clybourn is an "L" station on the CTA's Red Line. It is a subway station with two side platforms, located at 1599 North Clybourn Avenue, in the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago, at the southeastern edge of the commercial Clybourn Corridor. North/Clybourn station is located at the intersection of North Avenue, Halsted Street, and Clybourn Avenue. North/Clybourn opened on October 17, 1943, as part of the State Street subway.
Damen is a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", currently serving the O'Hare branch of its Blue Line. Opened on May 6, 1895, as Robey, it is the oldest station on the Blue Line. The station serves the popular Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods, and is consistently in the top 40 highest-ridership "L" stations. It has two wooden side platforms and a brick station house at street level. The west platform, serving southbound trains, contains a tower that has never been used but is a relic of the station's past. The station is served by three bus routes on Damen, Milwaukee, and North Avenues, which are each descended from streetcar lines on those streets in the early 20th century. The Blue Line has owl service; while the surrounding streetcar lines also had owl service in the early 20th century, the modern bus services do not.
Chicago, is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. The station is located at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. From the Chicago Avenue station, trains run at intervals of 2–7 minutes during rush hour, and take 4 minutes to travel to the Loop.
Grand, is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line, at Grand Avenue, Halsted Street and Milwaukee Avenue in the southeast corner of the West Town neighborhood. It is also located within the Fulton River District.
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.
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.
Kostner, formerly known as Kildare, is an 'L' station on the CTA's Pink Line. It is located in the K-Town neighborhood of the North Lawndale community area, often just referred to as Lawndale. Kostner station was originally opened as Kildare. During reconstruction in 2003, its primary entrance was moved one block west to Kostner Avenue and the Kildare entrance became an auxiliary entrance.
Cicero is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Pink Line. The station was the site of an accident in 1979 in which a train derailed and hit the station, stopping just short of the ticket agent's booth. The station is located in Cicero, Illinois.
Cermak–McCormick Place is a "L" station on the CTA's Green Line. The station, designed by Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects and engineered by Primary Consultant T.Y. Lin International, is located at Cermak Road and State Street on the Near South Side of Chicago. The station includes three entrances – one on each side of Cermak Road and one at 23rd Street. The main station entrance is built on the north side of Cermak road.
29th was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s South Side main line. Originally constructed by the South Side Elevated Railroad company, it was one of the original ten stations opened on the Chicago "L", beginning service on June 6, 1892. The South Side Elevated Railroad merged operations with three other companies to form Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) in 1911, before merging outright with them in 1924 to form the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT). Public ownership came to the "L" in 1947 with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).
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