Red LineThe Red Line (Howard-Dan Ryan Service) is a heavy rail line in
Chicago, run by the
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the
Chicago 'L' system. It is CTA's busiest rail line, serving more than 213,800 passengers each weekday. The route is 23.4 miles long with a total of 34 stations, from
Rogers Park (Howard Street) on the City Limits north, through downtown Chicago, and to
Roseland (95th/Dan Ryan) on the south.
RouteNorth Side MainlineThe northern terminus of the Red Line is
Howard Street in the
Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago (7600 N. - 1700 W.), on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood Avenue to Morse station. From there the route swings on a sweeping reverse curve to the east to Sheridan Road, adjacent to
Loyola University Chicago and continues southerly parallel to Broadway Avenue to the east and follows Broadway to Leland Avenue. From here, the route transitions from concrete embankment to steel elevated structure. The 'L' continues southward running adjacent the Graceland Cemetery, Irving Park Road and Sheffield Avenue from
Uptown to
Lincoln Park. The
Brown Line (Ravenswood) joins the Red Line tracks just north of the
Belmont Avenue station.
South of Belmont, Red and Brown Line trains run side-by-side on the four track North Side 'L' to Armitage Avenue.
Clybourn-Division-State SubwayAt Armitage, the Red Line descends to a portal at Willow Street and becomes a subway route, turning southeast in Clybourn Avenue, east in Division Street, and south in
State Street through the
Loop to
Roosevelt Road. South of Roosevelt Road, there is a junction, with one pair of tracks curving to the east and leaving the subway at 13th Street and connects to the old South Side 'L' near 16th and State Streets. This section was used between October,
1943 and February,
1993 when North Side trains were routed to Englewood and Jackson Park. It is now used for non-service train moves and emergency purposes.
From the Red Line, passengers can directly transfer to any other
Chicago 'L' line. This is unique to it and the
Purple Line, when the Purple Line runs its rush hour route.
Dan Ryan BranchBack at 13th Street the subway swings away from
State Street on a reverse curve to the southwest then rises to another portal near 18th Street adjacent
Metra's
Rock Island District commuter railroad line. The Red Line bridges 18th Street and continues southward on a steel column pan concrete deck elevated structure to 24th Street. The
Cermak-Chinatown station is in this section.
South of
Cermak Road, the Red Line tracks run along the median strip of the Franklin Street Connector, the planned, but never-completed downtown feeder branch of the
Dan Ryan Expressway. The Red Line then tunnels beneath the expressway interchange between 28th and 30th Streets and continues southward now occupying the median strip of the
Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstate 90 & 94). The Red Line follows the Dan Ryan the rest of the way to the
95th Street terminal (9500 S. - 1 W.) in
Roseland. The 98th Street Yard and Carhouse lie just south and east of the Dan Ryan-
Bishop Ford Expressway interchange. Beyond the interchange, the Dan Ryan and Bishop Ford expressways continue towards the City's Limits south without a transit line in the median strip, but with a grass median occupying space where provisions were made (when they were being built) for future rapid transit extensions of the Red Line.
Stations along the Red Line serve important Chicago landmarks such as
Wrigley Field (
Addison),
U.S. Cellular Field (
Sox-35th),
DePaul University (
Fullerton), the
Auditorium Building of
Roosevelt University, and Loyola University Chicago (
Loyola), as well as the
Magnificent Mile and
Chinatown.
Operating FleetCurrently, only
Budd-built
2600-Series rail cars equip the Red Line. Like the
Blue Line, the Red Line runs 24 hours a day. Service has a 4 to 6 minute headway during peak periods with 8-car trains, and a 15 minute headway during the early morning hours with 4 to 8 car trains.
HistoryThe Red Line was created in 1993 when the
CTA adopted color-coded nomenclature for all of its 'L' routes. The oldest section of the route opened on
May 31,
1900 on the north side between Wilson and Broadway Avenues and the Loop. It was constructed by the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company. The route was extended to Central Street in
Evanston on
May 16,
1908 via leased and electrified steam railroad trackage, and to
Linden Avenue in
Wilmette on
April 2,
1912. In November,
1913, the North Side 'L' was through routed with the South Side 'L' lines through the Union Loop. The ground-level section between Leland Avenue and Howard Street was elevated on a concrete embankment structure and expanded to four tracks in
1922.
The Clybourn-Division-State Subway was completed in
1943 providing two new tracks bypassing the portion of the North and South Side 'L' lines not equipped express tracks. By providing an express route free of the most restrictive curves on the
Chicago 'L' and shorter than the old line it supplemented (thanks to use of a diagonal street, Clybourn Avenue, for one leg of the route), the subway reduced running time by as much as 11 minutes for a one-way trip. The route was placed in operation
October 17,
1943, for a portion of the through north-south trains although other trains continued to use the 'L' both on through trips and on services circling the Loop and returning to the point of origin.
On
July 31,
1949, the North-South route was revised to create a more efficient routing through the Central Business District and handle the heavy volumes of passenger traffic using it. Thus, the Howard line was combined with the Jackson Park-Englewood lines through the State Street Subway, and the other lines routed to the Loop 'L'.
The Dan Ryan Branch was opened
September 28,
1969, and was originally combined with the Lake Street line to form the West-South route (Lake-Dan Ryan). It operated over the Lake Street and Wabash Avenue sides of the Union Loop. This "interim" service was created mainly for the purpose of providing through service between the west side and the south side in anticipation of the
1968 Loop Subway Project. When the controversial
subway project was cancelled in
1979, the Lake-Dan Ryan service remained, and lasted for nearly 24 years.
For much of the twentieth century, the Howard-Englewood/Jackson Park route was equally compatible in terms of passenger traffic until the late 1960's through the 1970's. However, passenger traffic volumes began to shift on the south side lines, with more riders using the newer Dan Ryan line (which runs four miles further south) and fewer riders on the older 'L' lines. This imbalance of service allowed the CTA to develop a more efficient system by combining the more heavily used rail lines together, and the weaker lines with each other, providing increased service capacity for the routes that need it. Thus, on
February 21,
1993 the Howard branch was combined with the Dan Ryan branch creating the present Red Line, and the Lake Street branch was paired with the Englewood-Jackson Park routes to form the
Green Line. A further operational benefit of this switch was that there was now additional available capacity on the Loop 'L', which was required for the soon-to-open
Orange Line.
The Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line underwent a rehabilitation period to improve its aging infratsructure which ended in early 2007.
[1] This work included upgrading the power and signal systems, and rehabilitating the stations with improved lighting, a cleaner appearance, and new escalators and elevators. The CTA has plans to expand Red Line to 10-car trains from the current eight-car trains
[1].
Dan Ryan ExtensionProposals are currently underway to extend the Red Line south from 95th Street. The CTA has developed nine different proposed routes, one of which includes routing the Red Line down the median of the Bishop Ford Expressway. At an alternatives analysis meeting on April 11th, 2007, CTA recommended narrowing further study down to three possible routes for consideration, none of which includes the Bishop Ford proposal.
[2].
See alsoChicago 'L'List of Chicago El stationsExternal linksRed Line at
Chicago-'L'.orgTrain schedules at
CTA official site
