Foster is a station on the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...

's 'L' system, on the Purple Line in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. It is located at 900 Foster Street (directional coordinates 2000 north, 900 west), just a few blocks west of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's Evanston campus.

History

Structure

Like the rest of the 'L' tracks north of the Wilson station, Foster is elevated on a solid fill embankment, unlike the steel structure commonly associated with the 'L'. It lacks a formal station house; two staircases on the south side of Foster Street lead up to a small area containing a customer assistant's booth, a farecard vending machine, and two

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. The island platform is composed of concrete and stretches north from the station entrance, covered by a canopy its entire length. Southbound trains stop on the west side of the platform, while northbound trains stop at the east part. The platform can only accommodate six-car trains because the north tip of the platform has been removed, although its framing and canopy are still in place.

Former service

Foster was served by trains of the

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (reporting mark CNSM), also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as w ...

on the Shore Line Route. Like Noyes and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, Foster had an additional side platform to the west of the southbound track for exclusive use of the North Shore Line, to prevent disembarking customers from transferring to 'L' trains for free. The platform was removed sometime after the North Shore Line ceased operations over this section of the rapid transit system in 1955, but its concrete footings can still be seen opposite the current platform north of Foster Street.

Modernization

Closure of the Foster station (along with South Boulevard) was proposed in three of the CTA's six potential options for the renovation of the Purple Line and northern section of the Red Line.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Foster Station Page
at Chicago-L.Org
Train schedule (PDF)
a
CTA official site

Foster Station PageCTA official site

Foster Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{Chicago "L" stations navbox, Purple=Yes CTA Purple Line stations Railway stations in Evanston, Illinois Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908 Former North Shore Line stations 1908 establishments in Illinois CTA stations located above ground