By Adrian Naves
The CTA brown line in the Loop. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
Chicago is a busy city – whenever you’re in town and trying to get around the city by car, it can be a nightmare during certain hours. The best recommendation to getting around is by foot, experiencing The Windy City by walking around and soaking in the neighborhoods is truly the best, but Chicago is quite vast and can be difficult to explore the whole city by walking as the only means of transportation. One of the blessings of living in a city like Chicago is its offering of a public transit system.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) with its vest public transit network has made Chicago accessible to plenty of folks, helping people reach their destination for a low fee. Such a luxury can be taken for granted and is something you can dearly miss whenever you travel/live in another city without this type of accessibility. During the invention of the automobile and the growing popularity to own one; cities, towns, suburbs, and all roads connecting them were being constructed with the emphasis of car first. Fast-forward to now and cars clog up a lot of the streets with long traffic hours becoming a nuisance when you drive in Chicago. Walking or taking the bus in a busy city has become an inconvenience as well. Count your lucky stars that when taking the train, traffic is a minimal factor when traveling by train. Local residents refer to the CTA train as the “L” train and according to transitchicago.com, the nickname ‘L’ is short for “elevated,” since many parts of the system run on tracks above ground level.
A train bound for Ravenswood and Albany Park pulls into the Quincy Station in the Loop in the 1940s. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
When the first “L” began revenue service on June 6, 1892, it was called the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad. During that period, a steam locomotive would pull four wooden coaches which would carry a couple dozen people, which would then depart the 39th St. station and would later arrive at the Congress Street Terminal, with some of tracks that are still in use by the Green Line. By the following year, the service was extended to 63rd Street and Stony Island Avenue and then the Transportation Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. By 1893, the trains began running on the Lake Street Elevated Railroad.
There were early setbacks to the “L” service and that was that none of the lines entered the central business district. Trains would drop off passengers at some terminals on right on the border lines due to a state law at the time requiring approvals by neighboring property owners, tracks couldn’t be built over public streets and obtaining approvals in downtown was difficult. This problem was overcome by the legendary Charles Tyson Yerkes, who went on to play a pivotal role in the development of the London Underground, Yerkes was commemorated by Theodore Dreiser as the ruthless schemer Frank Cowperwood in “The Titan” (1914) and other novels. Yerkes, controlled a good portion of the city’s streetcar system, attained the required signatures through cash and duplicity – at one point he secured a franchise to build a mile-long “L” over Van Buren Street from Wabash Avenue to Halsted Street, obtaining the necessary majority from the easily influenced owners on the western half and then building tracks over the eastern half, where property owners opposed Yerkes.
The CTA heritage fleet train car. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
In 1947, the CTA acquired the assets of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines. Over the following years, the CTA would modernize the “L,” by replacing the wooden cars with new steel ones and closing fairly used branch lines and stations, many of which were only spaced about a quarter mile apart. In 1964, the first air-conditioned cars were introduced. In 1973, the last pre-World War II cars were officially retired. Rail service to the O’Hare International Airport was first established in 1984, and then to the Midway International Airport in 1993. During that same year, the CTA went on to rename all of its rail lines – to the easily identifiable colorful lines. The CTA rail names that we know as of today: the North Side Main Line, State Street Subway, and Dan Ryan branch all became the Red Line, the Ravenswood Line became the Brown Line, O’Hare, Milwaukee–Dearborn subway, and Congress branches became the Blue Line, Lake Street Elevated, South Side Elevated, Ashland, and East 63rd branches all became the Green Line, and the Orange Line to Midway Airport. In June 2006, the CTA introduced its newest line, The Pink Line which servers 54th Avenue and Cermak Road. The CTA introduced fare cards for the first time in 1997.
The 54th and Cermak Pink Line standing by on the 18th St. platform. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
During the recent news of the Illinois General Assembly failing to pass a measure tackling the $770 million budget gap for the Chicago-area transit could spell trouble to the “L.” The CTA could anticipate a worst-case scenario, where the agency could begin public outreach around potential cuts during the summer and fall of 2026. Such drastic cuts to service could disrupt the daily living of how folks commute in Chicago. The advantage of not having to own and maintain a car is such a financial benefit in a city where public transit is highly accessible…replicating this lifestyle in an area without a public transit system becomes a challenge, which can sometimes make it expensive to live. A public good like the “L” railway is a luxury to all and something that we must try to preserve.
The CTA holiday train. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
For more information about the CTA, please visit: transitchicago.com
Sources:
The Chicago Transit Authority
WTTW.com
