The North Side Main Line is a branch of the
Chicago "L"
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") 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 tr ...
system that is used by
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 ...
, and
Brown Line trains. As of 2012, it is the network's busiest rail branch, serving an average of 123,229 passengers each weekday. The branch is
long with a total of 21 stations, from
Howard Street Howard Street may refer to:
*Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland
**Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001
*Howard Street (Sheffield ...
in
Rogers Park
Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early ...
down to Lake Street in
Chicago's Loop. The branch serves the north side of the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Since 2005, this branch has been renovated several times and is currently being reconstructed. On January 7, 2011, CTA requested a rehabilitation program for the North Side Main Line. This project is part of the
Red Ahead program.
Route
The North Side Main Line connects to five other branches of the Chicago 'L', including the
Ravenswood branch which is served by the Brown Line, the
State Street subway
The State Street subway is an underground section of the Chicago "L" system in The Loop which serves as the center of the Red Line. It is long and has a boarding average of 53,601 passengers every weekday as of February 2013. It owes its name t ...
which is served by the Red Line, the Skokie Branch which is served by the
Yellow Line, the Evanston Branch which is served by the Purple Line, and
The Loop which is served by Brown and Purple Line trains. North of
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
, the Purple Line continues to
Evanston and
Wilmette
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
, and the
Yellow Line runs through southern Evanston en route to its terminus in
Skokie.
The North Side Main Line serves the
Near North Side,
Old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
,
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...
,
Lakeview,
Wrigleyville
Lakeview, also spelled Lake View, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. Lakeview is located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood A ...
,
Uptown,
Edgewater and
Rogers Park
Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early ...
neighborhoods of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and has stops near
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
and
Loyola University.
Connection
Yellow and Purple Line trains merge onto the line at its northern terminus, the Howard Street Station. Red Line trains and the weekday rush hour Purple Line Express trains continue south on the part of the line that is known as the Howard Branch. The Ravenswood branch connects to the Main Line north of the
Belmont station, where Brown Line trains merge onto the Main Line. The part of the line south of this junction is known as the Loop Branch or the Ravenswood Connector. On the portion of this branch shared by Red and Brown Line trains, Red Line trains operate express on the inside tracks, while Brown and Purple Line Express trains run local on the outer two tracks. The Red Line passes through
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
and
Diversey stations (which is served mainly by Brown Line trains) and all trains make another stop at
Fullerton. After Fullerton, the Red Line descends into a portal after
Armitage
Armitage is a village in Staffordshire, England on the south side of the Trent and Mersey Canal south just outside of the market town of Rugeley and north of the city of Lichfield, and noteworthy for the Armitage Shanks sanitary porcelain factor ...
, and enters the State Street subway, while Brown and Purple Line express trains continue elevated for the remainder of the Main Line to
Merchandise Mart
The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is locate ...
, where they cross the Wells Street Bridge and enter the Loop at Tower 18.
History
The line began operation on May 31, 1900, between The Loop and
Wilson Avenue
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Rod ...
as the
Northwestern Elevated Railroad
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...
. On May 16, 1908, service on the line was extended to
Central street in Evanston.
From 1919 to 1963, the line was also utilized by
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 ...
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 ...
.
Since 2002, the main line has gone through plenty of renovations and rehabilitation projects and those projects are still going on as of today. Station renovations and track replacements have been happening ever since early 2012 and the CTA has been recently renovating all the Howard branch stations as part of the Red North Station Interim Improvements (see below).
Red North Station Interim Improvements
In November 2011, the
CTA announced the Red North project as part of the Red Line Capital Investment. The cost of the project was $86 million with a $57.4 million contract granted to contractor Kiewit Infrastructure. The project included seven stations to be renovated which included
Granville,
Morse
Morse may refer to:
People
* Morse (surname)
* Morse Goodman (1917-1993), Anglican Bishop of Calgary, Canada
* Morse Robb (1902–1992), Canadian inventor and entrepreneur
Geography Antarctica
* Cape Morse, Wilkes Land
* Mount Morse, Churchi ...
,
Thorndale,
Argyle,
Berwyn,
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
, and
Jarvis. The project started on June 1, 2012 at Granville and finished its renovation on December 13, 2012 at Jarvis. The project also caused the elimination of slow zones in which trains accelerate faster than usual.
Red & Purple Modernization Project
As part of the program, the
CTA also dubbed the "Red & Purple Modernization Project." CTA recently studied four possible alternatives for the project and they are willing to provide community updates that can make improvements of those studies in late 2012 to 2013. CTA was proposing to close down five stations on the Red and Purple lines. The five potential stations include
Foster,
South Boulevard,
Jarvis,
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
, and
Thorndale.
In 2011, CTA planned a scoping process and which they provided public meetings and a comment period. The purpose of the scoping process was to ask operators and attentive parties to provide guidance on the proposed alternatives, the purpose and need for the project and the proposed topics of evaluation and potential effects and mitigation measures to be considered. During the scoping process CTA introduced six alternatives as part of the project.
This project will completely rebuild the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr stations and the construction of a new Red-Purple bypass, construction on the project began on October 2, 2019 and will be completed in 2025.
Wilson Station Reconstruction Project
From 2014 to 2018, The Chicago Department of Transportation rebuilt the Wilson station, which serves as a major transfer point between Red and Purple Line Express trains. The rebuilt station has a new main station entrance on the south side of Wilson, with two
island platforms
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
to provide access between the two lines, two auxiliary entrances: one at Sunnyside Avenue and one on the north side of Wilson. Reconstruction began in October 2014 and ended in February 2018. the station remained open during reconstruction. The complete set of renderings and boards on display during the open house meeting are now available.
Station listing
Image gallery
Image:CRT1268 20100626.jpg, The North Side Main Line runs on the old Northwestern Elevated Railroad
Image:Belmont CTA 070826.jpg, The Belmont station under construction in 2007
Image:CTA loop junction.jpg, A temporarily rerouted Red Line train leaves the North Side Main Line and enters the Loop
Image:Howard station.jpg, The Howard station complex serves as the end of the main line
See also
*
Northwestern Elevated Railroad
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Raven ...
References
External links
North Side Main Line: Howard Branchat Chicago-L.org
at Chicago-L.org
{{Chicago L
Railway lines in Chicago
Chicago Transit Authority