Chicago, (Chicago/Franklin in station announcements) is an 'L' station on the CTA's

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and Purple Lines. Located in the Near North Side neighborhood at 300 W

Chicago Avenue Chicago Avenue is a major east–west street in Chicago, Illinois that runs at 800 north from 385 east to 5968 west in the Chicago street address system from which point it enters the suburbs and goes into several different suburban address ...

at West Chicago Avenue and North Franklin Street in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(directional coordinates 800 North, 300 West), the station opened in 1900 as part of the original series of stations on the Northwestern Elevated. A high density of art galleries and several schools is in the vicinity of the station, including the

Moody Bible Institute Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have i ...

. Chicago/Franklin serves the Brown Line, but Purple Line Express trains also stop at the station during weekday rush hours.

Station layout

The original station house was on the north side of Chicago Avenue. Beyond the

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

s were staircases which led up to the two long side platforms. The Chicago platforms were unusually long, starting just north of Chicago Avenue and curving along the track before straightening out just south of Chicago Avenue. Early in the station's history, it not only served 'L' trains but North Shore Line

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

s as well, requiring longer platforms which could berth eight car trains. The number of tracks also decreased from four to two just north of Chicago, meaning the two track, two side platform station had to provide the same capacity as a four track, two island platform station like Belmont (

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

) or Fullerton. In the decades prior to the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project, the northern, curved parts of the platforms were blocked off to passenger use; trains stopped south of Chicago Avenue along the straighter portion of the track which was long enough for eight-car trains. There were exit-only turnstiles to Superior Street on the south end of both platforms, along with an auxiliary exit to the south side of Chicago Avenue on the southbound platform. Chicago/Franklin received major renovations as part of the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project. The station houses were constructed above street level on the south side of Chicago Avenue alongside each platform. The original, historic station house will be restored and used for support systems. The exits to Superior Street have been rebuilt and reconfigured: each exit now has multiple entrance/exit turnstiles and wider staircases leading down to Superior Street. The canopies were refurbished and moved south, over the operational part of the platform. Additionally, with the installation of elevators at each station house, the station is now ADA compliant.

Bus connections

CTA * 37 Sedgwick (Weekdays Only) * 66 Chicago (Owl Service)

References

External links

Chicago/Franklin station
a
Countdown to a New Brown - official CTA site

a
Chicago-'L'.org

Train schedule (PDF)
a
CTA official siteChicago Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street ViewSuperior Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago (Cta Brown And Purple Lines) CTA Brown Line stations CTA Purple Line stations Former North Shore Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1900 1900 establishments in Illinois

Station layout

Bus connections

See also

References

External links