Cottage Grove, (formerly East 63rd-Cottage Grove) is an
'L' station and the current terminus of the
CTA Green Line's East 63rd branch, located in the
Woodlawn neighborhood. The station, situated at 800 East 63rd Street, opened on April 23, 1893. This station is the current terminal of the East 63rd branch of the Green Line, and the easternmost station on the 'L' system.
History
Cottage Grove officially opened in 1893 when the South Side Rapid Transit company extended its line from 39th Street to Jackson Park, just in time for the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordi ...
. The line was shortened to Stony Island and 63rd after the fair ended. Stony Island remained the terminus of the East 63rd branch for 88 years. However, on March 4, 1982, service east of 61st was suspended due to a defective bridge over the Illinois Central (now Metra Electric) tracks. Service on the East 63rd branch was restored on December 12, 1982, but only as far as the
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
station. In 1989, Cottage Grove was demolished and replaced with a new station, which opened in 1991. The new station was open for only three years before the entire Green Line closed for a renovation project in 1994.
Cottage Grove becomes a terminal
When the Green Line closed in 1994, the CTA was planning to re-extend the line from University to a new terminal at Dorchester. The new station would have offered connections to
Metra Electric
The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fift ...
and
South Shore Line
The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport in ...
trains, as well as CTA buses through a brand-new bus terminal. However, complaints from Woodlawn residents and
Arthur M. Brazier
Arthur M. Brazier (July 22, 1921 – October 22, 2010) was an American activist, author and pastor of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Illinois. Brazier served as pastor of the Universal Church of Christ, before merging with ACOG. He ...
forced a tough decision for the CTA to cut the line back to Cottage Grove.
The East 63rd branch was partially demolished from Cottage Grove Avenue to Drexel Avenue to prevent in-service trains from traveling on the unrehabbed tracks east of Cottage Grove. When the line reopened in 1996, Cottage Grove became the terminal of the East 63rd branch. The rest of the line east of Cottage Grove, including the abandoned University station and the partially-built Dorchester station were completely demolished in September 1997.
Operations
The Cottage Grove station was never intended to be a terminus. Although the station has two platforms, the northern platform is the only one that is really ever used. This is because no fare controls exist on the southern platform, since the station originally only allowed inbound (Harlem/Lake-bound) boarding (a configuration still used by
King Drive). For this reason, the southern platforms can only be used by trains that continue to the 61st or Lower 63rd Yards. The southern platform is also used by rush-hour trains that run empty to and back to Cottage Grove or to (this is done to allow a quick and easy transfer to another branch at Garfield). The one-track setup works for Cottage Grove because the station only sees trains arrive/depart every 20–25 minutes. Since the East 63rd branch was torn down all the way to Cottage Grove, no turnaround tracks exist east of the station. Trains needing to switch to the northern platform must use the crossover tracks just west of the station.
Bus connections
CTA
*4 Cottage Grove (Owl Service)
*X4 Cottage Grove Express (weekday rush hours only)
*63 63rd (Owl Service)
Image gallery
File:Cottage Grove.jpg, Station entrance.
File:63rd-Cottage Grove.jpg, End of the line since 1996.
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
Cottage Grove Station Pageat Chicago-L.org
Cottage Grove Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{Chicago "L" stations navbox, Green=Yes
CTA Green Line stations
Chicago "L" terminal stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1893
Former North Shore Line stations
CTA stations located above ground