History UsefulNotes / ChicagoL

'''Green Line''': Consisting of a merger of the Lake St. and South Side Elevated lines. This line, from west to south, follows an elevated track from one of Chicago's western suburbs almost directly east (with some slight ups and downs) to the loop, follows and north and west sides of the loop, and than travels almost directly south with one jog over. For the last couple of stops, the line splits, one section (part of the former "Jackson Park" branch) going a few blocks east, another section (formerly the "Englewood" branch) going west for some distance. These two sections were the oldest elevated lines built (and were the only elevated lines in Chicago to use steam locomotives), but were not merged into one line until 1993. (As mentioned in the Red Line, the western section was originally paired with the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line, while the southern section was attached to the subway and northern sections of the Red Line, these were switched to balanced the number of riders on both branches.) For two and a half years starting in 1994, the Green Line was shut down for repairs, a very controversial move.

'''Pink Line''': Formed by stringing together the Douglas Branch and Paulina Connector, both of which were originally built as part of the Metropolitan West Side system. Formerly a part of the Blue Line that branched southwest from the Eisenhower section, this line was instead connected to the Green Line and sent around the Koop in 2006, to help make scheduling easier. A new station at Madison St is currently being proposed to serve the United Center as part of a larger development project around the arena. The current closest stop is the blue line Illinois Medical District station which is over half a mile away. If built, Soldier Field would be the only major stadium in the city without direct access to the L as the red line serves the two major league ballparks.

'''Blue Line''': The second most used line, formerly the "Congress-O'Hare Line" or the "West-Northwest Line". This line, from north to south, starts at O'Hare International Airport, travels in the middle of a highway through several of Chicago's northwest sections, before a short subway that connects to a small elevated section. After this elevated section, it enters a longer subway, that enters downtown from the northwest, makes a u-shape, and leaves straight west, where it exits into the middle of another highway (eisenhower expressway), which is followed to the end of the line. This line was originally a single branch off the loop that later split into 4 elevated branches that fanned over the west section of the city. On of the elevated branches was discontinued due to low ridership, one was replaced when the Eisenhower Expressway was built (the elevated line was in the way of the planned highway), and the remaining branches were connected with a subway a few years after UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. In the 1970's, the part of the Kennedy section was added, and in the early 1980's the extension to O'Hare was built. The final elevated branch of the original set of lines used to be part of the blue line (branching off the eisenhower section), but is now the pink line.

'''Green Line''': Consisting of a merger of the Lake St. and South Side Elevated lines. This line, from west to south, follows an elevated track from one of Chicago's western suburbs almost directly east (with some slight ups and downs) to the loop, follows and north and west sides of the loop, and than travels almost directly south with one jog over. For the last couple of stops, the line splits, one section (part of the former "Jackson Park" branch) going a few blocks east, another section (formerly the "Englewood" branch) going west for some distance. These two sections were two of the original elevated lines built, but were not merged into one line until 1993. (As mentioned in the Red Line, the western section was originally paired with the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line, while the southern section was attached to the subway and northern sections of the Red Line, these were switched to balanced the number of riders on both branches.) For two and a half years starting in 1994, the Green Line was shut down for repairs, a very controversial move.

'''Green Line''': Consisting of a merger of the Lake St. Elevated, South Side Elevated, Ashland, and 63rd St. Lines. This line, from west to south, follows an elevated track from one of Chicago's western suburbs almost directly east (with some slight ups and downs) to the loop, follows and north and west sides of the loop, and than travels almost directly south with one jog over. For the last couple of stops, the line splits, one section going a few blocks east, another section going west for some distance. These two sections were two of the original elevated lines built, but were not merged into one line until the 1990's. (As mentioned in the Red Line, the western section was originally paired with the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line, while the southern section was attached to the subway and northern sections of the Red Line, these were switched to balanced the number of riders on both branches.) For a couple of years in the 1990's, the Green Line was shut down for repairs, a very controversial move.

'''Orange Line''': AKA the Midway Line. The most recently built line, finished in the early 1990's. From the loop this line travels southwest to Midway Airport. Might have been another "middle of a highway" line, but was instead built near freight rail tracks.

'''Pink Line''': Formed by stringing together the "Douglas Branch" and "Paulina Connector." Originally a part of the Blue Line that branched southwest from the eisenhower section, this line was instead connected to the Green Line and sent around the loop in the early 2000's, to help make scheduling easier. A new station at Madison St is currently being proposed to serve the United Center as part of a larger development project around the arena. The current closest stop is the blue line Illinois Medical District station which is over half a mile away. If built, Soldier Field would be the only major stadium in the city without direct access to the L as the red line serves the two major league ballparks.

'''Yellow Line''': Formerly the "Skokie Swift." Runs from the northern end west, the north into another one of Chicago's suburbs. This line was built in the 1920s as an express bypass for the interurban line to Milwaukee, which lasted until 1963; the city system operated a lightly-used local service between the suburb of Skokie and Howard Street Station between 1925 and 1948. The CTA reinitiated service between Howard Street and Skokie in 1964, with no intermediate stops, as an experimental project in suburban transit under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The experimental operation became permanent, though until 2004 the line used a unique overhead catenary system instead of third rail. A third stop was added in 2012.

'''Purple Line''': AKA the Evanston Shuttle or Express. Runs from the northern end of the Red Line through a northern suburb of Chicago. During rush hours, the line follows the Red Line route express to where it meets the Brown Line, than follows the Brown Line route to the Loop, which it circles before going north again. The northernmost stop on the line was built in a shady manner; people around the stop's location opposed the building of the extra stop, so construction crews quickly built tracks and platforms in the middle of the night, before later court orders declared to move legal. The choice of color for the line was made for Northwestern University, which four of its stops are two blocks west of.

'''Yellow Line''': Formerly the "Skokie Swift." Runs from the northern end west, the north into another one of Chicago's suburbs. This line was active during the early 1900's but was shut down due to low ridership. It was later restarted in the 1960's, reduced to just 2 total stops (One in the suburb, and where it meets the Red and Purple Lines). A third stop was added in 2012.

* Music/{{Wilco}}'s song "Far, Far Away" (off ''Being There'') has the lyrics "I long to hold you in my arms and sway/Kiss and ride on the CTA," the CTA being the 'L' (or a CTA bus, but probably the 'L'). (Wilco is of course from Chicago.)

!! Works referencing the 'L':

In addition to extensions to the Red, Yellow, and Orange Lines, a "Circle Line" or "Outer Loop" has been proposed and is in planning stages. The line, which would run [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in a circle]] would share the same tracks as the Red Line from the near north side, through downtown, and then splitting off after coming back above ground to merge with the Orange Line. It would then run southwest along the Orange Line before splitting off and turning north at Ashland, eventually running alongside the Pink Line and continuing north past the Green Line until meeting up with the Red Line once again. The route would allow a greater amount of north-south traffic to bypass the Loop and provide more links to a number of Metra lines without having to connect downtown. As the bulk of the route will run alongside existing lines, only the sections between the Orange and Pink Lines on the southwest side and Green and Red Lines on the north side will require new track to be built. The restoration of previously unused track along Paulina St. that the Pink Line now runs on was considered to be the first phase of the project.

Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the Red and Blue Lines), and a small section of the Blue Line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated. Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways. The CTA was the first to do this on any kind of scale, and the idea has since been taken up elsewhere. Expressways have some advantages as routes for elevated lines, since (1) they tend to already be elevated (meaning the pylons are already there) and thus (2) they are already grade-separated (meaning the trains can get their own rights-of-way), and furthermore (3) the government tends to already own the expressways, so getting the rights to build on the land isn't an issue, and (4) the expressways are already noisy and busy, so one common complaint people raise against building a line near them is simply not applicable.

Though the system's ridership has generally been increasing over the past few years, and several expansion plans exist, it still experienceds financial/funding difficulties, and maintenance difficulties, with large sections of track considered "slow zone" (Some of these maintenance difficulties are likely to do the elevated and highway sections of track, which is a rougher environment for the structure than a subway or ground level line would experience). Several large structure repair projects have been done over the past few decades, including shutting down the Green Line for 2 years in the 1990's, and the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line in 2013 (These projects proved controversial, partly for obvious reasons related to loss of transit for long periods of time, and partly because these lines serve very poor neighborhoods, already experiencing a range of other problems).

'''Red Line''': The most used line, formerly the "Howard-Dan Ryan Line" or the "North-South Line." From north to south, it begins on an elevated line from the city's northern boundary before descending into the State Street Subway at Fullerton (around a couple miles north of downtown). The line follows the subways through downtown before re-emerging aboveground at Cermak-Chinatown into the middle of the Dan Ryan Expressway, which it follows into 95th Street. There are plans to extend this further to close to southern city limits, but funding is not available for this project yet. The northern section of the line was one of the original lines that formed the loop and was completely elevated, while the subway was built during WorldWarTwo. The Dan Ryan, southern section was built in the late 1960's, and was originally connected to the west and loop section of what is now the Green Line, while the northern route went through the subway and connected to what is now the southern Green Line, but these were switched in the early 1990's to better match the number of riders between sections. The Dan Ryan section was closed for several months, in a somewhat controversial move, for large scale track repairs. If you are a [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} baseball]] fan, this is the line to know - both Wrigley Field (Addison) and U.S. Cellular Field (Sox-35th) are easily reached from this line.

'''Blue Line''': The second most used line, formerly the "Congress-O'Hare Line" or the "West-Northwest Line". This line, from north to south, starts at O'Hare International Airport, travels in the middle of a highway through several of Chicago's northwest sections, before a short subway that connects to a small elevated section. After this elevated section, it enters a longer subway, that enters downtown from the northwest, makes a u-shape, and leaves straight west, where it exits into the middle of another highway (eisenhower expressway), which is followed to the end of the line. This line was originally a single branch off the loop that later split into 4 elevated branches that fanned over the west section of the city. On of the elevated branches was discontinued due to low ridership, one was replaced when the Eisenhower Expressway was built (the elevated line was in the way of the planned highway), and the remaining branches were connected with a subway a few years after WorldWarTwo. In the 1970's, the part of the Kennedy section was added, and in the early 1980's the extension to O'Hare was built. The final elevated branch of the original set of lines used to be part of the blue line (branching off the eisenhower section), but is now the pink line.

-> ''*Ding-dong!* Doors closing.''

Currently in the process of transitioning from its long-established magnetic strip farecards to a new contactless payment system named Ventra. Controversial since its announcement due to the increase in fare for single-ride tickets and 5 dollar fee for issuing a new reloadable card[[hottip:*:later credited back after being registered online]], a system adapted from ones that exist elsewhere around the world and in the US (e.g. the UsefulNotes/WashingtonMetro and the [[UsefulNotes/PhiladelphiaSubways PATCO]]) The technical issues that plagued it following its initial rollout in summer of 2013 that truly caused it to become the bane of Chicago commuters' existences. The problems forced the CTA to delay the phase-out of the old farecard readers indefinitely. Once the bugs are sorted out however, it should make traveling throughout the metro area more convenient as it is planned to be adopted by suburban commuter rail system Metra by the end of 2014. This will be the first time the two rail systems, as well as the suburban Pace bus network, will all share a common payment system.

Chicago's main rail system. Radiating from downtown, it stretches through most of the city of Chicago into some of the nearby suburbs, and carries about 600,000 riders on an average weekday. The system, along with Chicago's buses, is managed by the Chicago Transportation Authority. The system's most well-known feature is "The Loop" in downtown Chicago, a rough square of elevated tracks where most of the lines converge. The northwest corner of the loop is one of the busiest rail intersections in the world, with trains from (currently) 4-5 of the 8 lines travelling in different directions at this intersection.

Currently in the process of transitioning from its long-established magnetic strip farecards to a new contactless payment system named Ventra. Controversial since its announcement due to the increase in fare for single-ride tickets and 5 dollar fee for issuing a new reloadable card[[hottip:*:later credited back after being registered online]], it was the technical issues that plagued it following its initial rollout in summer of 2013 that truly caused it to become the bane of Chicago commuters' existences. The problems forced the CTA to delay the phase-out of the old farecard readers indefinitely. Once the bugs are sorted out however, it should make traveling throughout the metro area more convenient as it is planned to be adopted by suburban commuter rail system Metra by the end of 2014. This will be the first time the two rail systems, as well as the suburban Pace bus network, will all share a common payment system.

Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the Red and Blue Lines), and a small section of the Blue Line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated. Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways. The CTA was the first to do this on any kind of scale, and the idea has since been taken up elsewhere. Expressways have some advantages as routes for elevated lines, since (1) they tend to already be elevated (meaning the pylons are already there) and thus (2) they are already grade-separated (meaning the trains can get their own rights-of-way), and furthermore (3) the government tends to already own the expressways, so getting the rights to build on the land isn't an issue, and (4) the expressways are already noisy and busy, so one common complaint people raise against building a line is simply not applicable.

Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the Red and Blue Lines), and a small section of the Blue Line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated. Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways. The CTA was the first to do this on any kind of scale, and the idea has since been taken up elsewhere. Expressways have some advantages as routes for elevated lines, since (1) they tend to already be elevated (meaning the pylons are already there) and thus (2) they are already grade-separated (meaning the trains can get their own rights-of-way).

In addition to extensions to the Red, Yellow, and Orange Lines, a "Circle Line" or "Outer Loop" has been proposed and is in planning stages. The line, which would run [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in a circle]] would share the same tracks as the Red Line from the near north side, through downtown, and then splitting off after coming back above ground to merge with the Orange Line. It would then run southwest along the Orange Line before splitting off and turning north at Ashland, eventually running alongside the Pink Line and continuing north past the Green Line until meeting up with the Red Line once again. The route would allow a greater amount of north-south traffic to bypass the Loop and provide more links to a number of Metra lines without having to connect downtown. As the bulk of the route will run alongside existing lines, only the sections between the Orange and Pink Lines on the southwest side and Green and Red Lines on the north side will require new track to be built. The restoration of previously unused track along Paulina St. that the Pink Pine now runs on was considered to be the first phase of the project.

Currently in the process of transitioning from its long-established magnetic strip farecards to a new contactless payment system named Ventra. Controversial since its announcement due to the increase in fare for single-ride tickets and 5 dollar fee for issuing a new reloadable card[[hottip:*:later credited back after being registered online]], it was the technical issues that plagued it following its initial rollout in summer of 2013 that truly caused it to become the bane of Chicago commuters' existences. The problems forced the CTA to delay the phase-out of the old farecard readers indefinitely. Once the bugs are sorted out however, it should make traveling throughout the metro area more convenient as it is planned to be adopted by suburban commuter rail system Metra by the end of 2014. This will be the first time the two rail systems, as well as the suburban Pace bus network will all share a common payment system.

A notable feature of the L today is its habit of running lines in the medians of expressways: the Red Line running through the Dan Ryan and the Blue running through the Eisenhower and Kennedy. The CTA was the first to do this on any kind of scale, and the idea has since been taken up elsewhere. Expressways have some advantages as routes for elevated lines, since (1) they tend to already be elevated (meaning the pylons are already there) and thus (2) they are already grade-separated (meaning the trains can get their own rights-of-way).

''Red Line'': The most used line. From north to south, it begins on an elevated line from the city's northern boundary before descending into the State Street Subway at Fullerton (around a couple miles north of downtown). The line follows the subways through downtown before re-emerging aboveground at Cermak-Chinatown into the middle of the Dan Ryan Expressway, which it follows into 95th Street. There are plans to extend this further to close to southern city limits, but funding is not available for this project yet. The northern section of the line was one of the original lines that formed the loop and was completely elevated, while the subway was built during WorldWarTwo. The Dan Ryan, southern section was built in the late 1960's, and was originally connected to the west and loop section of what is now the Green Line, while the northern route went through the subway and connected to what is now the southern Green Line, but these were switched in the early 1990's to better match the number of riders between sections. The Dan Ryan section was closed for several months, in a somewhat controversial move, for large scale track repairs. If you are a [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} baseball]] fan, this is the line to know - both Wrigley Field (Addison) and U.S. Cellular Field (Sox-35th) are easily reached from this line.

''Blue Line'': The second most used line. This line, from north to south, starts at O'Hare International Airport, travels in the middle of a highway through several of Chicago's northwest sections, before a short subway that connects to a small elevated section. After this elevated section, it enters a longer subway, that enters downtown from the northwest, makes a u-shape, and leaves straight west, where it exits into the middle of another highway (eisenhower expressway), which is followed to the end of the line. This line was originally a single branch off the loop that later split into 4 elevated branches that fanned over the west section of the city. On of the elevated branches was discontinued due to low ridership, one was replaced when the Eisenhower Expressway was built (the elevated line was in the way of the planned highway), and the remaining branches were connected with a subway a few years after WorldWarTwo. In the 1970's, the part of the Kennedy section was added, and in the early 1980's the extension to O'Hare was built. The final elevated branch of the original set of lines used to be part of the blue line (branching off the eisenhower section), but is now the pink line.

''Brown Line'': This line was started as a branch off the northern section of what is now the Red Line, which zigzags to the northwest somewhat. It travels to its start point to meet the Red Line at a couple of transfer stops, than follows an elevated route to the loop, and goes around the loop back to its starting point. The routing has changed little over the century, although expansion for some platforms due to greatly increased ridership were done in the early 2000's.

''Green Line'': This line, from west to south, follows an elevated track from one of Chicago's western suburbs almost directly east (with some slight ups and downs) to the loop, follows and north and west sides of the loop, and than travels almost directly south with one jog over. For the last couple of stops, the line splits, one section going a few blocks east, another section going west for some distance. These two sections were two of the original elevated lines built, but were not merged into one line until the 1990's. (As mentioned in the Red Line, the western section was originally paired with the Dan Ryan section of the Red Line, while the southern section was attached to the subway and northern sections of the Red Line, these were switched to balanced the number of riders on both branches.) For a couple of years in the 1990's, the Green Line was shut down for repairs, a very controversial move.

''Orange Line'': The most recently built line, finished in the early 1990's. From the loop this line travels southwest to Midway Airport. Might have been another "middle of a highway" line, but was instead built near freight rail tracks.

''Pink Line'': Originally a part of the Blue Line that branched southwest from the eisenhower section, this line was instead connected to the Green Line and sent around the loop in the early 2000's, to help make scheduling easier. A new station at Madison St is currently being proposed to serve the United Center as part of a larger development project around the arena. The current closest stop is the blue line Illinois Medical District station which is over half a mile away. If built, Soldier Field would be the only major stadium in the city without direct access to the L as the red line serves the two major league ballparks.

''Purple Line'': Runs from the northern end of the Red Line through a northern suburb of Chicago. During rush hours, the line follows the Red Line route express to where it meets the Brown Line, than follows the Brown Line route to the Loop, which it circles before going north again. The northernmost stop on the line was built in a shady manner; people around the stop's location opposed the building of the extra stop, so construction crews quickly built tracks and platforms in the middle of the night, before later court orders declared to move legal. The choice of color for the line was made for Northwestern University, which four of its stops are two blocks west of.

''Yellow Line'': Runs from the northern end west, the north into another one of Chicago's suburbs--this one called Skokie, so the service is also called the "Skokie Swift" (which used to be its official name and is still used informally). This line was active during the early 1900's but was shut down due to low ridership. It was later restarted in the 1960's, reduced to just 2 total stops (One in the suburb, and where it meets the Red and Purple Lines). A third stop was added in 2012.



Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the Red and Blue Lines), and a small section of the Blue Line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated. Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways.

''Yellow Line'': Runs from the northern end west, the north into another one of Chicago's suburbs. This line was active during the early 1900's but was shut down due to low ridership. It was later restarted in the 1960's, reduced to just 2 total stops (One in the suburb, and where it meets the Red and Purple Lines). A third stop was added in 2012.

''Blue Line'': The second most used line. This line, from north to south, starts at O'Hare airport, travels in the middle of a highway through several of Chicago's northwest sections, before a short subway that connects to a small elevated section. After this elevated section, it enters a longer subway, that enters downtown from the northwest, makes a u-shape, and leaves straight west, where it exits into the middle of another highway (eisenhower expressway), which is followed to the end of the line. This line was originally a single branch off the loop that later split into 4 elevated branches that fanned over the west section of the city. On of the elevated branches was discontinued due to low ridership, one was replaced when the eisenhower expressway was built (The elevated line was in the way of the planned highway), and the remaining branches were connected with a subway a few years after WorldWarTwo. In the 1970's, the part of the kennedy section was added, and in the early 1980's the extension to O'hare was built. The final elevated branch of the original set of lines used to be part of the blue line (branching off the eisenhower section), but is now the pink line.

''Brown Line'': This line was started as a branch off the northern section of what is now the red line, which zigzags to the northwest somewhat. It travels to its start point to meet the red line at a couple of transfer stops, than follows an elevated route to the loop, and goes around the loop back to its starting point. The routing has changed little over the century, although expansion for some platforms due to greatly increased ridership were done in the early 2000's.

''Green Line'': This line, from west to south, follows an elevated track from one of Chicago's western suburbs almost directly east (with some slight ups and downs) to the loop, follows and north and west sides of the loop, and than travels almost directly south with one jog over. For the last couple of stops, the line splits, one section going a few blocks east, another section going west for some distance. These two sections were two of the original elevated lines built, but were not merged into one line until the 1990's. (As mentioned in the red line, the western section was originally paired with the dan ryan section of the red line, while the southern section was attached to the subway and northern sections of the red line, these were switched to balanced the number of riders on both branches.) For a couple of years in the 1990's, the green line was shut down for repairs, a very controversial move.

''Pink Line'': Originally a part of the blue line that branched southwest from the eisenhower section, this line was instead connected to the green line and sent around the loop in the early 2000's, to help make scheduling easier. A new station at Madison St is currently being proposed to serve the United Center as part of a larger development project around the arena. The current closest stop is the blue line Illinois Medical District station which is over half a mile away. If built, Soldier Field would be the only major stadium in the city without direct access to the L as the red line serves the two major league ballparks.

''Purple Line'': Runs from the northern end of the red line line through a northern suburb of Chicago. During rush hours, the line follows the red line route express to where it meets the brown line, than follows the brown line route to the loop, which it circles before going north again. The northernmost stop on the line was built in a shady manner; people around the stop's location opposed the building of the extra stop, so construction crews quickly built tracks and platforms in the middle of the night, before later court orders declared to move legal. The choice of color for the line was made for Northwestern University, which four of its stops are two blocks west of.

''Yellow Line'': Runs from the northern end west, the north into another one of Chicago's suburbs. This line was active during the early 1900's but was shut down due to low ridership. It was later restarted in the 1960's, reduced to just 2 total stops (One in the suburb, and where it meets the red and purple lines). A third stop was added in 2012.



Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the red and blue lines), and a small section of the blue line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated. Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways.

Though the system's ridership has generally been increasing over the past few years, and several expansion plans exist, it still experienceds financial/funding difficulties, and maintenance difficulties, with large sections of track considered "slow zone" (Some of these maintenance difficulties are likely to do the elevated and highway sections of track, which is a rougher environment for the structure than a subway or ground level line would experience). Several large structure repair projects have been done over the past few decades, including shutting down the green line for 2 years in the 1990's, and the Dan Ryan section of the red line in 2013 (These projects proved controversial, partly for obvious reasons related to loss of transit for long periods of time, and partly because these lines serve very poor neighborhoods, already experiencing a range of other problems).

In addition to extensions to the red, yellow, and orange lines, a "circle line" has been proposed and is in planning stages. The line, which would run [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in a circle]] would share the same tracks as the red line from the near north side, through downtown, and then splitting off after coming back above ground to merge with the orange line. It would then run southwest along the orange line before splitting off and turning north at Ashland, eventually running alongside the pink line and continuing north past the green line until meeting up with the red line once again. The route would allow a greater amount of north-south traffic to bypass the loop and provide more links to a number of Metra lines without having to connect downtown. As the bulk of the route will run alongside existing lines, only the sections between the orange and pink lines on the southwest side and green and red lines on the north side will require new track to be built. The restoration of previously unused track along Paulina St that the pink line now runs on was considered to be the first phase of the project.

Currently in the process of transitioning from its long-established magnetic strip farecards to a new contactless payment system named Ventra. Controversial since its announcement due to the increase in fare for single-ride tickets and 5 dollar fee for issuing a new reloadable card[[note:later credited back after being registered online]], it was the technical issues that plagued it following its initial rollout in summer of 2013 that truly caused it to become the bane of Chicago commuters' existences. The problems forced the CTA to delay the phase-out of the old farecard readers indefinitely. Once the bugs are sorted out however, it should make traveling throughout the metro area more convenient as it is planned to be adopted by suburban commuter rail system Metra by the end of 2014. This will be the first time the two rail systems, as well as the suburban Pace bus network will all share a common payment system.

''Red Line'': The most used line. From north to south, it begins on an elevated line from the city's northern boundary before descending into the State Street Subway at Fullerton (around a couple miles north of downtown). The line follows the subways through downtown before re-emerging aboveground at Cermak-Chinatown into the middle of the Dan Ryan Expressway, which it follows into 95th Street. There are plans to extend this further to close to southern city limits, but funding is not available for this project yet. The northern section of the line was one of the original lines that formed the loop and was completely elevated, while the subway was built during WorldWarTwo. The Dan Ryan, southern section was built in the late 1960's, and was originally connected to the west and loop section of what is now the Green Line, while the northern route went through the subway and connected to what is now the southern Green Line, but these were switched in the early 1990's to better match the number of riders between sections. The Dan Ryan section was closed for several months, in a somewhat controversial move, for large scale track repairs. If you are a [[UsefulNotes/Baseball baseball]] fan, this is the line to know - both Wrigley Field (Addison) and U.S. Cellular Field (Sox-35th) are next to this line.

''Pink Line'': Originally a part of the blue line that branched southwest from the eisenhower section, this line was instead connected to the green line and sent around the loop in the early 2000's, to help make scheduling easier.

Though the system's ridership has generally been increasing over the past few years, and several expansion plans exist, it still experienceds financial/funding difficulties, and maintenance difficulties, with large sections of track considered "slow zone" (Some of these maintenance difficulties are likely to do the elevated and highway sections of track, which is a rougher environment for the structure than a subway or ground level line would experience). Several large structure repair projects have been done over the past few decades, including shutting down the green line for 2 years in the 1990's, and the Dan Ryan section of the red line in 2013 (These projects proved controversial, partly for obvious reasons related to loss of transit for long periods of time, and partly because these lines serve very poor neighborhoods, already experiencing a range of other problems).

''Purple Line'': Runs from the northern end of the red line line through a northern suburb of Chicago. During rush hours, the line follows the red line route express to where it meets the brown line, than follows the brown line route to the loop, which it circles before going north again. The northernmost stop on the line was built in a shady manner; people around the stop's location opposed the building of the extra stop, so construction crews quickly built tracks and platforms in the middle of the night, before later court orders declared to move legal.

Chicago's main rail system. Radiating from downtown, it stretches through most of the city of Chicago, into some of the nearby suurbs, and carries about 600,000 riders a weekday. The system, along with Chicago's buses, is managed by the Chicago Trsnaportation Authority. The system is well know for the "loop" in downtown Chicago, a rough square of elevated tracks where most of the lines converge. The northwest corner of the loop is one of the busiest rail intersections in the world, with trains from (currently) 4-5 of the 8 lines travelling in different directions at this intersection.

The system started as several separate elevated lines serving different sections of the city, built in the 1890's and early 1900's, ending in downtown. One of the builders of these lines, Charles Tyson Yerkes, decided to bring them together into the modern loop, by extending the downtown endpoints until they met in the square that exists today. These early lines gradually expanded over time, with several branches and extensions added. However, the lines had trouble making money, and the various railroad companies were merged together to form a single company in 1924. This company also experienced financial troubles after some time, and in 1947, the city took it over and established the CTA. Financial issues have continued since, however, with the CTA regularly experiencing budget problems. Despite this, several expansions have been constructed over time, and the system's ridership in the past few decades has actually been increasing.

''Red Line'': The most used line. From north to south, travels on an elevated line from the city's northern boundary, descends into a subqay around a couple miles north of downtown, and follows the subways through downtown, before exiting the subways into the middle of the Dan Ryan expressway, which it follows into 95th st. There are plans to extend this further, to close to southern city limits, but funding is not available for this project yet. The northern section of the line was one of the original lines that formed the loop, and was completely elevated, while the subway was built during world war 2. The Dan Ryan, southern section was built in the late 1960's, and was originally connected to the west and loop section of what is now the green line, while the northern route went through the subway and connected to what is now the southern green line, but these were switched in the early 1990's to better match the number of riders between sections. The Dan Rayn section was closed for several months, in a somewhat controversial move, for large scale track repairs.

''Blue Line'': The second most used line. This line, from north to south, starts at O'hare airport, travels in the middle of a highway through several of Chicago's northwest sections, before a short subway that connects to a small elevated section. After this elevated section, it enters a longer subway, that enters downtown from the northwest, makes a u-shape, and leaves straight west, where it exits into the middle of another highway (eisenhower expressway), which is followed to the end of the line. This line was originally a single branch off the loop that later split into 4 elevated branches that fanned over the west section of the city. On of the elevated branches was discontinued due to low ridership, one was replaced when the eisenhower expressway was built (The elevated line was in the way of the planned highway), and the remaining branches were connected with a subway a few years after world war 2. In the 1970's, the part of the kennedy section was added, and in the early 1980's the extension to O'hare was built. The final elevated branch of the original set of lines used to be part of the blue line (branching off the eisenhower section), but is now the pink line.

The system started as several separate elevated lines serving different sections of the city, built in the 1890's and early 1900's, ending in downtown. One of the builders of these lines, Charles Tyson Yerkes, decided to extend the endpoints of these lines, and bring them together into the modern loop. These early lines gradually expanded over time, however, the lines had trouble making money, and the various railroad companies were merged together in 1924, and later, into the CTA in 1947. Financial issues have continued since, however, with the CTA regularly experiencing budget problems, although several expansions to the system have been constructed during this time.

Unlike many other train systems, very little of the Chicago L is composed of subway, just sections of two lines downtown (the red and blue lines), and a small section of the blue line further to the northwest. As the name suggests, many of the lines are elevated (The northern red, brown, and purple lines, the green line to the west and south, the pink line to the west, orange line to the southwest, and a small section of the blue line.) Three large sections of train line run in the middle of highways, with train stations connected to overpasses or with walkways over or under the highways.

Though the system's ridership has generally been increasing over the past few years, and several expansion plans exist, it still experienceds financial/funding difficulties, and maintenance difficulties, with large sections of track considered "slow zone" (Some of these maintenance difficulties are likely to do the elevated and highway sections of track, which is a rougher environment for the structure). Several large scale maintenance projects have been undertaken in recent years, including in 2013 a shut down of an entire section of line for track rebuilding, although the problem continues to persist for other sections of line.