This will never happen because the local government has no interest in providing services the neighborhoods that fund the cities tax base. They’d rather take those dollars and sent them south side.
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Yeah. An easy connection to/from all the Brown Line neighborhoods and O'Hare would be huge. And that whole Mayfair/Albany Park area would be transformed.
The Green Line re-extending to Stony Island should be seriously considered. It will not just connect to Jackson Park but to the future Obama Presidential Library that will be in the same area.
It also needs some pretty considerable rail refurbishing between IIT and Garfield. There are some pretty rickety, painfully slow stretches in there.@@carstarsarstenstesenn
How many times should we pay for that? The first time when the idiot local alderman demanded that the new extension be torn down and Daley allowed it, we had to repay the federal funding. I doubt we are getting that funding a second time for the same thing after what we pulled the last time.
The Pink Line actually original extended at grade to Harlem, so those parking lots are actually the former right of way! It would be nice to see it extend back to its original length
That won't happen. The CTA cut back service to 54th to eliminate a lot of dangerous grade crossings. Any extension would have to be elevated or subway, and there is no money for that.
An extension to Harlem would be nice but that is Pace territory. Pace is already handling that by planning to add Pulse Service to Cermak so a pink line extension is already dead.
@@starwberri4534it is CTA too, perhaps some overlap with pace, but CTA bus service goes that way. There are many suburbs in CTA. The four most densely populated municipalities in Illinois are all near western suburbs, Chicago is #5, that area is very densely populated
CMAP is the MPO. Ultimately the CTA needs funding and it struggles with maintaining the existing system. You need to better fund the CTA so i can operate and maintain the existing system and have sufficient resources for expansion.
It's frustrating that some of these extensions used to exist, or exist in part, and now we have to build them all over again. The Forest Park line, for example, used to run all the way to Mannheim & Cermak. There used to be a Humboldt Park line that ran parallel to North Avenue between Lawndale and Damen. As you note, what's now the Green line used to run to Jackson Park. And, of course, there used to be the interurbans. You could hop on a train on the Loop and go north to Milwaukee or west to Elgin, Geneva, and St. Charles. We used to have this capacity, and we threw it away because everybody needed two cars to poison the air.
@@citizenstranger hell no, not in chicago. We already did street cars in the early 1900’s and save the light rail for the rural cities just now catching up to public transportation.
@@iwouldliketoorderanumber1b79I think it should be a subway or elevated, but I wouldn't be opposed to a street car with dedicated lanes. Ashland and Western would benefit from road diets anyways
If you can find the money for it… - Ridership is still down from before pre-COVID. - Ghost trains have still remained an issue - Labor shortages and high labor costs - High material costs - But the biggest of all, can the city keep the trains safe? Given the state of the Southside, I would say no.
The J-park and Pink extensions existed and were removed when the CTA took over. The CTA completely removed some lines, like Humboldt Park, Stock Yards, Kenwood & 69th. Lots of stations were also removed. The North Shore line and Chicago Aurora and Elgin disappeared. They covered some of your proposed extensions. Past government administrations were stupid and shortsighted.
I was originally going to make a joke here but instead I just want to express my appreciation for the beautiful graphics in this one. Really illustrates the talking points extremely well.
Nice video! And now for _my_ opinions. I think CTA should use the incredibly wide right of way on the Blue line Forest Park branch to build express tracks, then restore service to some of the closed stations with locals and extend the line back out to the pre-CTA Metropolitan Railroad terminus in Westchester. I'd also like to see an east-west line on North Ave or Fullerton Ave connecting Hermosa/Cragin/Humboldt Park with the high employment neighborhoods along Milwaukee and east of the river. Too many people have a lousy choice between slow bus rides or driving right now.
There actually used to be a line that branched off of the Blue Line just north of Damen, in that alleyway north of North Ave, and went as far as Humboldt Park. Trains from there would head into the Loop via the old north Paulina Connector, over the Lake Street L, and into the Loop at its southwest corner along with the rest of the Metropolitan L lines before the Dearborn Subway was completed and the Paulina Connector was deactivated south of Lake and demolished north of it. And that incredibly wide right-of-way in the median of the Eisenhower was actually supposed to be for CA&E trains to bypass the L stops along it as they traveled from Aurora inbound, but because cars killed electric interurbans, the space and the south pair of portals built next to the ones used by the Blue Line just east of UIC remain unused.
Old Orchard is getting like 1,000 more apts right, the yellow line extension would be great. Literally ANY extension before 2050 would a win for the City, but *heavy sigh* nothing will happen until leadership at CTA changes. :(
great to see you show the yellow some love. I grew up taking it to get downtown from the suburbs, but always had to park and ride. I think extending it farther into the suburbs would be great to get suburban kids/teens introduced to public transit and get them excited about their tax dollars being spent on it. would be great for the future of the city and its surroundings.
The CTA should reconsider opening stations like California and Central and possibly Kostner on the Blue Line considering how much that would benefit those areas. They should also consider reopening Racine on the Green Line, which has already been voted on.
My Proposal: the south end of the Green Line is reconstructed to allow for the first phase of an outer loop line that runs on/parallel to 63rd and connects to midway. The idea is that the second phase would run north on Cicero. A third phase would run east on Irving Park (or another major avenue) to connect to the blue and red/purple on the north side near Wrigley. Finally, a fourth phase would add a new spur to O’hare (not on the Blue line). The full outer loop line would provide three services: the full semicircle loop, the north side to O’hare, and the south side to O’hare via Midway and the west side. But, the whole grand vision begins with the southside to Midway line along 63rd.
When I lived in Chicago I always thought it was a huge missed opportunity for a North/South line further west than the Redline that would offer almost and outer loop. It would alleviate so much car traffic, push development beyond just the lakeside and Loop.
The only formerly Metropolitan elevated branch to get any love at all has been the Logan Square branch, being extended *twice* while the rest of the lines were cut back, torn down, and consolidated. It's so unfortunate.
Two things combined would be game changing: 1) all the proposed extensions that would link lines outside the loop (like the Green line to Midway and the Brown line to Jefferson Park), and 2) running all the lines 24/7. Combining these would make getting around town incredibly easy. As it is, so many connections can only be made in the loop, and even that isn't an option at all times of the day.
I know it’s not an extension per se, but if purple line express trains ran all day I’d be much more likely to head downtown more than I do now. Plus some redundancy of the red and brown lines would probably be nice.
Your graphic design is absolutely stunning. The line closest to my heart is definitely the yellow line. Pace 626 does sort of provide rapid transit further north, but the ROW from the North Shore line is still nearly in tact from skokie-northbrook. Maybe when the population density increases along there a re-instatement of a sort may happen, at least part of the way. They would also have to figure out what to do about the third rail at grade crossings. Maybe, in my wildest foamer dreams, they could overhead electrify the thing again? I know the equipment would be non standard, but it's just a thought. Thanks!
@chicagolandrailroad: North of Dempster Street they should use overhead catenary wires for safety when and if the line gets extended northward . It wouldn't be difficult to reinstall paragraphs on these L cars assigned to the Skokie Swift.
All the lines that run on surface right of way definitely should have their third rail power replaced with overhead catenary like the Yellow Line a.k.a. Skokie Swift (hat tip to Trains are Awesome for the old name!) was or the Blue Line in Boston which is part catenary part third rail.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Yes that would be allot safer!!!!! The speeds on the Yellow Line have been drastically reduced since that accident with the snow plow. At crossings the train speed is reduced to around 25 miles an hour. At the East Prairie Road Crossing I waited around 3 minutes for the train to get over the crossing. The Swift Name should be dropped from the Yellow Line.
For the brown line: the buses from Jefferson Park going east are the Foster and Lawrence buses. The Lawrence bus is especially busy, and based on my experiences, a lot of people do in fact use it as an extension of the brown line to get to the North Side near the Lake and to the red line. So much crowding could be relieved, and connections to the blue line and O'Hare would be improved tremendously. The purple:I'd like to see the line call at a few more station on the Far North Side, namely Loyola and either Bryn Mawr or Berwyn. South of Belmont, it would only call at Fullerton and then should follow the red line into the subway and turn around after serving Roosevelt station south of the Loop. It presently follows the brown line on a slow, twisty alignment and calls at all stops between the Loop and Belmont, thus kind of undoing the point of an express line to the north. I think my suggestion would make for a much faster trip from the norther suburbs and the North Side of Chicago to the Loop. There is a ton of demand already, and the purple line could be doing so much more. I'd also like to see it run all day as an express to the Loop and not just during rush hour. Yellow: definitely should stop at Crawford, Doge, and Asbury. Also, bring the damn thing up to the mall! There are plenty of shoppers and employees who would appreciate and easier trip from Howard to get there. Blue: the stop at Clinton St. for the OTC is a no-brainer. I'm amazed it doesn't already exist! Frankly, Chicago has too many rail termini. I"d love to see some consolidation so regional transfers would be easier.
Going back to that southbound yellow line branch, i think that should become a new line Think about it, there's a right of way between Midway and Montrose that isn't used often, i think CTA can use that, plus the Right of way from Montrose to Oakton to finally build thay "loop line" everyone has always asked for, thus eliminating the need for people to go downtown just to get another line to go somewhere else
Actually up until the mid-1950s the what we now know is the pink line did go almost to Harlem and cermak. I think it ended it somewhere like 7,000 West cermak? But that would be bringing service back and I think that would be a neat thing to have.
3:33 The WLTC proposal included a tunnel under Canal St. to create an underground loop, splitting the blue line branches and finally directly connecting OTC and CUS with the L. Along with the HSR platforms that would be built below.
I can understand why it wasn't built ( probably very expensive), but I also can see the benefit of a subway loop. O ' Hare trains could run clockwise and Forest Park branch trains could run counterclockwise
How about extending the Yellow Line all the way to the South Side and give it one of the Green Line's terminuses? It can run express with the Purple Line, go with the Red down State St, and then link with the Green Line going south, either via rush hour express in peak direction, or local.
I think the operational reason for that not being the case is that Cottage Grove isn't like the rest of the system in that it doesn't exactly have its own rail yard - the tracks just... end. You'd also have the added headache of having the junction at 14th having to deal with not just switching Orange vs Green routing, but accounting for trains coming out of the portal at 13th, too, which could lead to backups, along with potential backups at Roosevelt for trains leaving the subway either via the direct portal to the Dan Ryan branch versus the portal to the South Side Elevated - especially problematic with how frequently Red Line trains run. Oh, and the racist NIMBYs in Skokie would freak out about "increased crime" because of a one-seat ride from 63rd. Can't forget that.
Nice video! All these extensions look great. However, I think the CTA should consider running the Purple Line down to the Loop and back to Linden more frequently like the Red and Brown lines. I understand that those two have the better ridership, but I think providing a one-seat ride between Evanston/Wilmette and the Loop during off-peak hours and weekends would be a feasible study that the CTA should consider. Plus, I think it would free up congestion at the Howard terminal, where terminating and originating Yellow and Purple line trains at those stations can cause some traffic for arriving and departing Red Line trains.
Extend the yellow line north to Highland Park by the old Toys R Us with stations at Northbrook (Lake Cook, Dundee), Northfield/New Trier, Lake And Loyola, and of course, Old Orchard.
I'd like to see a CTA line from Midway Airport north to O'Hare Airport. Would intersect with a number of current westbound CTA lines. It would avoid anyone living out in that area that wants to go north or south to not have to travel thorough the Loop to reach their destination. Could be part of the Orange Line extension south of Midway discussed in your video.
If there was ever a CTA train line that should’ve been built was the route up and down Cicero Ave., originally pitched by J. Daley back in the 1960s. That’s one reason why the street is so wide to begin with, but nothing ever came of it. It would’ve connected all the Blue routes that crossed over that street, and the Orange too. It would’ve made the Orange Line extension redundant too if it kept going south of Midway. It would’ve also made that consideration for a WB Brown Line extension a lot more viable too! (This is the 1st video I ever watched on this channel, so without knowing any other topics already covered, doing some research on this would make another great video.)
I keep wondering if a north-south line west of the loop would be good. It'd require fewer riders pass through the loop, and would increase resilience. I don't know where exactly, but for example, an elevated line over Western running from Brown @ Western to Western and 63rd, with a short extension of Green from Ashland to connect. You'd get two Greens, two Blues, Brown, Pink and Orange without entering the loop.
Absolutely - at the very least, BRT on Ashland or Western. I wanted to focus on the existing lines for this video, but I definitely agree we need an outer line like that!
The extensions I want to see are an extension of the Pink Line past 54th/Cermak, an extension of the Green Line past Cottage Grove/63rd, and an extension of the Green Line past Ashland/63rd. For infills (of those not already planned), I was thinking 26th and on the Red Line, Canfield and Nagle on the Blue Line, Madison on the Pink Line, Western along with the restoration of Racine/63rd on the Green Line, and Division on the Brown Line,
I agee with you on the Green Line extension to Stoney. It should have never been torn down. Not so sure about the extension from Ashalnd to Midway. That part of the (formerly known as Englewood A-Train) Green Line was inadvertently affected by the (formerly known as Lake/Dan Ryan) Red Line stop on 63rd. Then Racine went away. I think Halsted was closed, but then reopened. Then there is that mile long stretch that is gone..Harvard, Wentworth (State closed in September of 1973 just before I started taking the train to school) and 58th. I think the only reason why the Ashland branch of the Green Line is still open is because of Kennedy-King College. I could be wrong. I'm sure my timeline is off for certainevents but I think you get my drift. Bottom line...the branch is so underused, would it make sense to extend it?
Green line extensions would be huge for south side and provide great connections. Could also build track from King Drive to Halsted for a 2-4 car shuttle that connects the ends of both “new” green line branches and with the red line at 63rd. would offer a much faster option than the 63 bus
I also think that a circle line needs to be built to connect all the lines that radiate from downtown, thereby providing an easier transfer between the lines so you don’t have to go all the way downtown to transfer to another line. I also think a rush hour express service to the loop for the yellow line similar to the purple line could also be beneficial. That way it’s a one seat ride from Skokie all the way to downtown Chicago
Imo, CTA should focus exclusively on connecting lines (eg blue and brown) and underserved parts of the city rather than providing service to the suburbs. Increasing ridership for the dense urban areas should be our first priority.
Resurrect all of the lost lines/branches especially re-extending the ➡️ 63rd Branch of the Green Line from Cottage Grove to Jackson Park especially for the Obama 📚, also being the Forest Park 🔙 to Westchester, Green Line from Harlem/Lake 🔙 to Forest Park, Orange from Midway to Ford City, & all the other extensions u proposed
@joshuafajardo5697: It was certainly a major mistake discontinuing the lines you just mentioned. They should be revived now that population warrants it.
@@joshuafajardo5697 you'd have to improve the crime rates in the area. Ford city Mall is known for gang shootings and most of the store fronts are empty
I'm still new to Chicago, but passionate about the L--videos like this are the perfect synthesis of info and topic to help me learn more about my new home, as well as the transit-history here, and how that might inform activism for a better transit-oriented future :3 thank you for your hard work!
if the yellow line doesnt get a crawford station, I would at least hope theyd add a flag stop near the skokie shops. it seems ridiculous to me that they dont serve their own rail facility well. just a bus from the next stop down the line. brown line extension to jeff park would be lovely. one issue though is kimball yard is already at storage capacity, and the service level requested is about as high as we can serve with the yard capacity we have. so if the brown line gets longer we would need to add more yard tracks, upgrade to 5000s, or reduce frequency. regarding train length, the cars have a maximum length limited by the electronic couplers of 14 cars. however, you cant take a 14 car train into a station which is 8 cars long. 6 of your cars wont have a platform to step onto. so you would need to upgrade every platform on the line, which is incredibly costly. also the train length reminders in the cab only go up to 8.
That's interesting. Is the 14-car limit consistent between the High Performance family and the 5000/7000 series? What happens if more than 14 are linked together?
@doomsdayrabbit4398 what exactly would happen is above my paygrade. But there are low voltage components which are connected in series across the entire length of the train, so perhaps with excess length you start running into resistances which are too high for such low voltage, and the current drops so low that the signal noise becomes a large enough component to make the data unusable.
This video was so well researched! I love all your ideas. Pink to the United Center. Green to Jackson Park (also, the Obama Library is there). Brown to Jackson Park or Montrose (this I want so much for when I go to O'Hare and Rosemont). Yellow to Old Orchard (beats driving there all the time!), and Blue to Arlington Heights (just in case the Bears move there). The Red Line extension further south is my favorite because no one is served there, and it's about time (despite me not needing to go there). I'm also hoping for a Circle line (so we don't always have to transfer in the Loop) or maybe a line parallel to the Red Line somewhere to the west. And, yes, I'm greedy when I say this... some line or extension to the Museum Campus! Getting to the trains from a Bears game can get annoying. Thanks for this amazing video!
My idea for the Forest Park branch of the blue line is to extend it to Mannheim in Hillside on 290 and have it connect there to future lines west to Yorktown Center mall and another line northwest to Schaumburg using the ROWs of I-88 and I-290 respectfully. In order to allow capacity for frequent service on the blue line two more tracks would be added, as was originally planned for when the highway was built, these would allow for express trains that would skip most stops between Hillside and the Loop. The pink line did go as far west as Oak Park ave at it's zenith and it probably was intended for it to continue west, I'm not sure offhand when it was cut back to where it is today but that is why there is a straight line of parking lot from its terminus. I'd like to see it extended not only to Harlem but along Cermak to Oakbrook Terrace. Overall some real solid ideas here, well done.
The Pink Line, when it was still known as the Douglas Line, once went all the way to Harlem as you suggest in your video. It was sliced bank in the 1950's and replaced with an "extension bus." I'm sure there were reasons.
I personally would see the expansion of the blue line from ohare. I feel that it would lead to the improvement of the walkability of the nearby neighborhoods particularly around woodfield.
as someone who recently moved to the nw suburbs, it’s so upsetting knowing there were plans for an extension to the blue line that fell through 😭 i’m so tired of the lack of transit here, and the md west metra line isn’t very helpful with where i wanna go
To leave a more constructive comment, what if the forest park branch got a ramp going east from Illinois medical district to the Paulina connector so forest park trains would be routed around the loop, and O'Hare-Subway trains would end at Racine. Alternatively, Forest Park and O'Hare trains would both use the downtown subway so FP trains would terminate at Clark/Lake (using the grand interlocking to turn around) and O'Hare trains would turn around at UIC or Racine or whatever.
Yellow line to old orchard makes so much snese logistically. Thay can share parking infastructure with the mall, plus, there are tons of employees that will jump on that route so quickly
Here's some Ideas I have A line that uses The Belt Railway of Chicago (Includes the UP Cragin Sub) and it should be called the Lime Line. Brown line extension to Jefferson Park (and potentially Norwood Park), I'd prefer Grade Separation by an Elevated ROW over Lawerence Avenue because it would be much cheaper to build than a Subway and Plus most of the Brown Line is already Elevated so it should be no problem to grade separate the existing at grade sections. A Blue line Express (Indigo), a restoration of the Humbolt Park branch using an EL over North Avenue, a Blue local (Cyan) that runs from Humbolt Park to UIC-Halsted. The Silver (Gray) Line which would provide a direct connection to OTC, Union Station, LaSalle Street Station and the Blue and Red lines. A Foster/Elston Ave EL from Devon Ave in Norwood Park to Kimball and an Ashland EL from Paulina Brown line to Lake Street, then goes counter-clockwise in the Loop and the Ashland/Lake station would replaced with an Ogden Avenue station and this would be the Gold line. Brown line sidings from Willow street to Illinois street on the North side main line with restored Halsted and Oak street street stations. Yellow line Extension to Old Orchard Road. A Red line branch to Navy Pier. A Green line branch to 69th/Halsted. A Michigan Avenue Subway which would be the Maroon line. Expanded O'Hare and Midway stations as well a Terminal 5 Blue line station. An Ogden Avenue and Blvd system LRT. And Finally a spur off the Southwest corner of the Loop to a station on Roosevelt Road (where the Former Chicago Grand Central Station was) to act as an Alternative Terminus for the Brown and Orange lines to ease congestion in the Loop.
Perhaps it is just because I have used this route and I'm self aware of the areas it serves, but the 54A that goes to the Skokie Swift should be, at the very least, having daily service from early morning to late evening. I would LOVE a train connection from Skokie to Mayfair, and that and an extension north of Dempster should both be relatively viable to do at the same time, it's just that the CTA doesn't care enough for the northwest neighborhoods and less for Skokie, I mean you look all the bus routes they've cut fully or reduced in service the past 10 years in the northwest, and then recently for 7 weeks they shut down the Yellow Line, what does that tell you? Sure everywhere else seems decaying but there are real sacrifical lambs for the CTA out there.
Sorry that you didn't do your homework on the yellow/Nothshore line. Stations torn down include Ridge, Asbury Dodge, Crawford,. Emerson Old Orchard all that way to the Chain of Lake, across to Waukegan and up to Milwaukee. The rail right of way that you see from Oakton going south was discontinued after the Union Pacific bought the C&NW RR.
I actually didn’t know the pink line originally went farther - though that definitely makes sense. For this video I more wanted to look at the system in context of the current day - ideally, all the Interurbans would still be around!
nice video but as someone who isnt really familiar with chicago id really appreciate it if it was more obvious what is where. keep up the good work tho
Not exactly for a specific line, but an L extension to the pier would be a logical eastward conclusion. I’m thinking continuing from Lake Street to Columbus Drive then making a mini loop out of Illinois Street, Ohio Street and Grand Avenue back to Columbus Drive and then back to main loop. Which line would traffic that line?
Great video as always! Always remember the #1 rule: train good. My philosophy is even if a train only serves one person, that still warrants it being built. I don't feel transit projects should be scrapped because the costs outweigh the benefits, since any form of rail transit still connects countless communities no matter how expensive it may be to build the line.
if the pink line gets extedeed ti the malll its new terminal shoulg get a new transit center connected to it. and probably b morwe exoesive be undergroud or at least an tunnel to the mall
Look what's happening out in Los Angeles!!? Lines have been resurrected like the trolley line from Los Angeles to Long Beach! Now the A Line that runs on the approximate alignment of the Old Pacific Electric and now light rail trolley lines to Santa Monica and several miles east of Pasadena Cal. Also a trolley line to Redondo Beach Cal. and Norwalk Cal.!!! Also a line to Culver City California.
I feel the 3 branches of Metra electric should become CTA lines instead. Let the Metra electric go to the southern most point and maybe extend, but the two lines to blue island should be CTA lines, one of them maybe a south purple line (like the red). The line that ens near the IN border could be the third line. construct the "purple line" to go into the loop, and the there two into millennium station.
@cassidy_c: Great idea. I imagine the basic fare to and from there would be in the vicinity of $9 or $10 close to the cost of a METRA TICKET is my guess.
The CA&E used to. It would have used the south pair of portals east of UIC-Halsted had it not gone bankrupt while it was prohibited from operating east of Forest Park while the Eisenhower was constructed.
One of the reasons the South Side is a rougher area is because of historical disinvestment and discrimination - as I mentioned in the video, its majority minority and one of the goals of the extension is to provide access to jobs and economic opportunities for these historically underserved communities. Obviously, the extension alone won’t fix everything, but it’s hopefully a good step towards reducing poverty and increasing opportunity in those areas.
I think an Outer "Loop" would serve many communities and fill multiple gaps and opportunities. E/W from Red Argyle along Foster (Lawrence?) N/S along Cicero w/ connections to Blue Montrose, Green, Blue, & Pink Cicero & Orange MDW Then E/W along 79th via Red 79th to Metra Electric at Cheltanham/79th
This would almost certainly be an underground line and expensive. But it would create key corridors for communities that have to go into the Loop and back out, or rely entirely on buses.
4:16 The Pink line (or Douglas Branch before it was the 54/Cermak branch of Blue Line) used to extend all the way to Harlem. That's why you say it is a "perfect right of way of parking lots" -- because all of that used to be train tracks for the CTA. CTA closed it all down in 1952 shortly after they took over the Douglas line. Used to take the Blue Line downtown to DePaul, and back to Forest Park, but can't tell you how many times I accidentally got on the "B" train to 54/Cermak instead, fell asleep, and woke up at the end of the wrong line.
Replace the yellow line with the silver line because Silver is good for a shuttle train the new yellow line stops the blue line from having branches 3:42 .
Drawing the lines is the fun and easy part. Now do a video where you show options for dedicated tax increases that can fund regular transit extensions, as well as the political coalitions that can be assembled to help overcome do-nothing inertia of both institutions and the general public.
This is why I mainly try and keep my crayons/line drawings somewhat feasible - I know the political and financial challenge of actually building these is immense so I want to focus on things that I may see in my lifetime!
For the United Center, they’re bragging like the new Green Line station at Damen is gonna open up access to the UC for the first time. However what I don’t get is why do more people not take the Blue Line there and get off at the Medical District? When I took my wife to the Olivia Rodrigo concert last March that’s how we went, but we were part of only a small handful of people doing that. The Green Line station won’t be that much closer (maybe a few feet…..), so I don’t get how it will change anything. A Pink Line station actually would be closer and I don’t know why it doesn’t already exist.
They do not have a station at Madison for a reason. It would deplete profits from parking at the UC. There was a Madison station at one time. It could easily be done. Our elected leaders do not care about you. Lack of funding, my ass.
Terminating so many L lines at malls just doesn’t seem to make sense to me given that malls are becoming economically unviable. Brown line seems very truncated. It could either go in the direction you’re talking about or maybe further north toward Lincolnwood or one of the other suburbs on that side of the city.
The mall point is a great point - in the case of the yellow line, there’s also the high school there (and old orchard seems to be doing fine). For the pink, the mall just happens to be where I feel a decent ending spot is - and perhaps in the future the transit there could be a catalyst to new development replacing the mall.
"Malls are becoming economically unviable"....Definitely agree with your assessment. Many are doing online shopping, which hass hurt foot traffic. I think we are of the same thought.....
I know it’s a shot in the dark, but a brown line extension to Jefferson Park would be a dream come true.
I think it would make more sense to go towards Lincolnwood
@@quamoo Connecting the brown line to the blue line is a lot more important in my opinion. The Jeff Park extension would be amazing
This will never happen because the local government has no interest in providing services the neighborhoods that fund the cities tax base. They’d rather take those dollars and sent them south side.
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Yeah. An easy connection to/from all the Brown Line neighborhoods and O'Hare would be huge. And that whole Mayfair/Albany Park area would be transformed.
@@JoeJoe-lq6bdso safer? Or what
The Green Line re-extending to Stony Island should be seriously considered. It will not just connect to Jackson Park but to the future Obama Presidential Library that will be in the same area.
not to mention uchicago as a ridership generator!
Yes I've been saying this for years
The green line could also use a lot more infill stations. Some of the gaps are huge
It also needs some pretty considerable rail refurbishing between IIT and Garfield. There are some pretty rickety, painfully slow stretches in there.@@carstarsarstenstesenn
How many times should we pay for that? The first time when the idiot local alderman demanded that the new extension be torn down and Daley allowed it, we had to repay the federal funding. I doubt we are getting that funding a second time for the same thing after what we pulled the last time.
The Pink Line actually original extended at grade to Harlem, so those parking lots are actually the former right of way! It would be nice to see it extend back to its original length
That won't happen. The CTA cut back service to 54th to eliminate a lot of dangerous grade crossings. Any extension would have to be elevated or subway, and there is no money for that.
An extension to Harlem would be nice but that is Pace territory. Pace is already handling that by planning to add Pulse Service to Cermak so a pink line extension is already dead.
@@starwberri4534it is CTA too, perhaps some overlap with pace, but CTA bus service goes that way. There are many suburbs in CTA. The four most densely populated municipalities in Illinois are all near western suburbs, Chicago is #5, that area is very densely populated
Back in the day, it was the Douglas Park line. There was parallel streetcar service on Cermak, commonly referred to at the time as "the Czech Zephyr."
There's so many no brainer extensions that CTA could do which CMAP frustratingly holds back funding on. Very modest but solid proposals here
CMAP is the MPO. Ultimately the CTA needs funding and it struggles with maintaining the existing system. You need to better fund the CTA so i can operate and maintain the existing system and have sufficient resources for expansion.
It's frustrating that some of these extensions used to exist, or exist in part, and now we have to build them all over again. The Forest Park line, for example, used to run all the way to Mannheim & Cermak. There used to be a Humboldt Park line that ran parallel to North Avenue between Lawndale and Damen. As you note, what's now the Green line used to run to Jackson Park. And, of course, there used to be the interurbans. You could hop on a train on the Loop and go north to Milwaukee or west to Elgin, Geneva, and St. Charles. We used to have this capacity, and we threw it away because everybody needed two cars to poison the air.
tbh I think the most important new thing the system needs is a north/south line along ashland or western
Definitely - I wanted to focus on existing lines for this video, but another major north/south line (or BRT) is badly needed
Or Pulaski
if they do this, it should be street car or light rail imo.
@@citizenstranger hell no, not in chicago. We already did street cars in the early 1900’s and save the light rail for the rural cities just now catching up to public transportation.
@@iwouldliketoorderanumber1b79I think it should be a subway or elevated, but I wouldn't be opposed to a street car with dedicated lanes. Ashland and Western would benefit from road diets anyways
All of these extensions with additional high density mixed used developments would make Chicago a even bigger and prosperous world class city!
If you can find the money for it…
- Ridership is still down from before pre-COVID.
- Ghost trains have still remained an issue
- Labor shortages and high labor costs
- High material costs
- But the biggest of all, can the city keep the trains safe? Given the state of the Southside, I would say no.
The J-park and Pink extensions existed and were removed when the CTA took over. The CTA completely removed some lines, like Humboldt Park, Stock Yards, Kenwood & 69th. Lots of stations were also removed. The North Shore line and Chicago Aurora and Elgin disappeared. They covered some of your proposed extensions. Past government administrations were stupid and shortsighted.
I was originally going to make a joke here but instead I just want to express my appreciation for the beautiful graphics in this one. Really illustrates the talking points extremely well.
Thank you! They took me awhile but I’m happy with how they came out :)
Nice video!
And now for _my_ opinions. I think CTA should use the incredibly wide right of way on the Blue line Forest Park branch to build express tracks, then restore service to some of the closed stations with locals and extend the line back out to the pre-CTA Metropolitan Railroad terminus in Westchester.
I'd also like to see an east-west line on North Ave or Fullerton Ave connecting Hermosa/Cragin/Humboldt Park with the high employment neighborhoods along Milwaukee and east of the river. Too many people have a lousy choice between slow bus rides or driving right now.
There actually used to be a line that branched off of the Blue Line just north of Damen, in that alleyway north of North Ave, and went as far as Humboldt Park. Trains from there would head into the Loop via the old north Paulina Connector, over the Lake Street L, and into the Loop at its southwest corner along with the rest of the Metropolitan L lines before the Dearborn Subway was completed and the Paulina Connector was deactivated south of Lake and demolished north of it.
And that incredibly wide right-of-way in the median of the Eisenhower was actually supposed to be for CA&E trains to bypass the L stops along it as they traveled from Aurora inbound, but because cars killed electric interurbans, the space and the south pair of portals built next to the ones used by the Blue Line just east of UIC remain unused.
Brown line extension YEEESSSSS
Old Orchard is getting like 1,000 more apts right, the yellow line extension would be great. Literally ANY extension before 2050 would a win for the City, but *heavy sigh* nothing will happen until leadership at CTA changes. :(
great to see you show the yellow some love. I grew up taking it to get downtown from the suburbs, but always had to park and ride. I think extending it farther into the suburbs would be great to get suburban kids/teens introduced to public transit and get them excited about their tax dollars being spent on it. would be great for the future of the city and its surroundings.
The CTA should reconsider opening stations like California and Central and possibly Kostner on the Blue Line considering how much that would benefit those areas. They should also consider reopening Racine on the Green Line, which has already been voted on.
Nah there should be a station at western
Kostner was closed because it’s to close to Pulaski and the curve isn’t safe
My Proposal: the south end of the Green Line is reconstructed to allow for the first phase of an outer loop line that runs on/parallel to 63rd and connects to midway.
The idea is that the second phase would run north on Cicero. A third phase would run east on Irving Park (or another major avenue) to connect to the blue and red/purple on the north side near Wrigley. Finally, a fourth phase would add a new spur to O’hare (not on the Blue line).
The full outer loop line would provide three services: the full semicircle loop, the north side to O’hare, and the south side to O’hare via Midway and the west side.
But, the whole grand vision begins with the southside to Midway line along 63rd.
When I lived in Chicago I always thought it was a huge missed opportunity for a North/South line further west than the Redline that would offer almost and outer loop. It would alleviate so much car traffic, push development beyond just the lakeside and Loop.
Fun fact; the pink line's predecessor once ran out to oak park avenue, but it was axed in the late 40's iirc
The only formerly Metropolitan elevated branch to get any love at all has been the Logan Square branch, being extended *twice* while the rest of the lines were cut back, torn down, and consolidated. It's so unfortunate.
The yellow line north extension my be viable now since the Ild orchard mall is being redeveloped with 400 living units comming by 2027
Two things combined would be game changing: 1) all the proposed extensions that would link lines outside the loop (like the Green line to Midway and the Brown line to Jefferson Park), and 2) running all the lines 24/7. Combining these would make getting around town incredibly easy. As it is, so many connections can only be made in the loop, and even that isn't an option at all times of the day.
I know it’s not an extension per se, but if purple line express trains ran all day I’d be much more likely to head downtown more than I do now. Plus some redundancy of the red and brown lines would probably be nice.
Your graphic design is absolutely stunning. The line closest to my heart is definitely the yellow line. Pace 626 does sort of provide rapid transit further north, but the ROW from the North Shore line is still nearly in tact from skokie-northbrook. Maybe when the population density increases along there a re-instatement of a sort may happen, at least part of the way. They would also have to figure out what to do about the third rail at grade crossings. Maybe, in my wildest foamer dreams, they could overhead electrify the thing again? I know the equipment would be non standard, but it's just a thought. Thanks!
@chicagolandrailroad: North of Dempster Street they should use overhead catenary wires for safety when and if the line gets extended northward . It wouldn't be difficult to reinstall paragraphs on these L cars assigned to the Skokie Swift.
All the lines that run on surface right of way definitely should have their third rail power replaced with overhead catenary like the Yellow Line a.k.a. Skokie Swift (hat tip to Trains are Awesome for the old name!) was or the Blue Line in Boston which is part catenary part third rail.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Yes that would be allot safer!!!!! The speeds on the Yellow Line have been drastically reduced since that accident with the snow plow. At crossings the train speed is reduced to around 25 miles an hour. At the East Prairie Road Crossing I waited around 3 minutes for the train to get over the crossing. The Swift Name should be dropped from the Yellow Line.
I kinda like the idea of the blue line to Schaumburg
I used to go to Woodfield mall ALL THE TIME
but don’t anymore because I don’t have a car
@@goldenretriever6440 if the bears settle in Arlington ,you will see this happen
For the brown line: the buses from Jefferson Park going east are the Foster and Lawrence buses. The Lawrence bus is especially busy, and based on my experiences, a lot of people do in fact use it as an extension of the brown line to get to the North Side near the Lake and to the red line. So much crowding could be relieved, and connections to the blue line and O'Hare would be improved tremendously.
The purple:I'd like to see the line call at a few more station on the Far North Side, namely Loyola and either Bryn Mawr or Berwyn. South of Belmont, it would only call at Fullerton and then should follow the red line into the subway and turn around after serving Roosevelt station south of the Loop. It presently follows the brown line on a slow, twisty alignment and calls at all stops between the Loop and Belmont, thus kind of undoing the point of an express line to the north. I think my suggestion would make for a much faster trip from the norther suburbs and the North Side of Chicago to the Loop. There is a ton of demand already, and the purple line could be doing so much more. I'd also like to see it run all day as an express to the Loop and not just during rush hour.
Yellow: definitely should stop at Crawford, Doge, and Asbury. Also, bring the damn thing up to the mall! There are plenty of shoppers and employees who would appreciate and easier trip from Howard to get there.
Blue: the stop at Clinton St. for the OTC is a no-brainer. I'm amazed it doesn't already exist! Frankly, Chicago has too many rail termini. I"d love to see some consolidation so regional transfers would be easier.
Going back to that southbound yellow line branch, i think that should become a new line
Think about it, there's a right of way between Midway and Montrose that isn't used often, i think CTA can use that, plus the Right of way from Montrose to Oakton to finally build thay "loop line" everyone has always asked for, thus eliminating the need for people to go downtown just to get another line to go somewhere else
The pink line used to extend where those parking lots are and they demolished it. Obe if many unfortunate corrections made in the past.
Actually up until the mid-1950s the what we now know is the pink line did go almost to Harlem and cermak. I think it ended it somewhere like 7,000 West cermak? But that would be bringing service back and I think that would be a neat thing to have.
3:33 The WLTC proposal included a tunnel under Canal St. to create an underground loop, splitting the blue line branches and finally directly connecting OTC and CUS with the L. Along with the HSR platforms that would be built below.
I can understand why it wasn't built ( probably very expensive), but I also can see the benefit of a subway loop. O ' Hare trains could run clockwise and Forest Park branch trains could run counterclockwise
How about extending the Yellow Line all the way to the South Side and give it one of the Green Line's terminuses? It can run express with the Purple Line, go with the Red down State St, and then link with the Green Line going south, either via rush hour express in peak direction, or local.
Good idea because the green line would be improved the blue line can't have three eastern termini
I think the operational reason for that not being the case is that Cottage Grove isn't like the rest of the system in that it doesn't exactly have its own rail yard - the tracks just... end. You'd also have the added headache of having the junction at 14th having to deal with not just switching Orange vs Green routing, but accounting for trains coming out of the portal at 13th, too, which could lead to backups, along with potential backups at Roosevelt for trains leaving the subway either via the direct portal to the Dan Ryan branch versus the portal to the South Side Elevated - especially problematic with how frequently Red Line trains run. Oh, and the racist NIMBYs in Skokie would freak out about "increased crime" because of a one-seat ride from 63rd. Can't forget that.
North South along Western Avenue. It would be a pre-metro line as in Brussels Belgium. It would be called The Checker Line.
Nice video! All these extensions look great. However, I think the CTA should consider running the Purple Line down to the Loop and back to Linden more frequently like the Red and Brown lines. I understand that those two have the better ridership, but I think providing a one-seat ride between Evanston/Wilmette and the Loop during off-peak hours and weekends would be a feasible study that the CTA should consider. Plus, I think it would free up congestion at the Howard terminal, where terminating and originating Yellow and Purple line trains at those stations can cause some traffic for arriving and departing Red Line trains.
Pink Line went to Oak Park Avebe in Berwyn until the mid 1950's
Extend the yellow line north to Highland Park by the old Toys R Us with stations at Northbrook (Lake Cook, Dundee), Northfield/New Trier, Lake And Loyola, and of course, Old Orchard.
I'd like to see a CTA line from Midway Airport north to O'Hare Airport. Would intersect with a number of current westbound CTA lines. It would avoid anyone living out in that area that wants to go north or south to not have to travel thorough the Loop to reach their destination. Could be part of the Orange Line extension south of Midway discussed in your video.
If there was ever a CTA train line that should’ve been built was the route up and down Cicero Ave., originally pitched by J. Daley back in the 1960s. That’s one reason why the street is so wide to begin with, but nothing ever came of it. It would’ve connected all the Blue routes that crossed over that street, and the Orange too. It would’ve made the Orange Line extension redundant too if it kept going south of Midway. It would’ve also made that consideration for a WB Brown Line extension a lot more viable too! (This is the 1st video I ever watched on this channel, so without knowing any other topics already covered, doing some research on this would make another great video.)
All of these make so much sense. Excellent video!
I keep wondering if a north-south line west of the loop would be good. It'd require fewer riders pass through the loop, and would increase resilience. I don't know where exactly, but for example, an elevated line over Western running from Brown @ Western to Western and 63rd, with a short extension of Green from Ashland to connect. You'd get two Greens, two Blues, Brown, Pink and Orange without entering the loop.
Absolutely - at the very least, BRT on Ashland or Western. I wanted to focus on the existing lines for this video, but I definitely agree we need an outer line like that!
The extensions I want to see are an extension of the Pink Line past 54th/Cermak, an extension of the Green Line past Cottage Grove/63rd, and an extension of the Green Line past Ashland/63rd.
For infills (of those not already planned), I was thinking 26th and on the Red Line, Canfield and Nagle on the Blue Line, Madison on the Pink Line, Western along with the restoration of Racine/63rd on the Green Line, and Division on the Brown Line,
I agee with you on the Green Line extension to Stoney. It should have never been torn down. Not so sure about the extension from Ashalnd to Midway. That part of the (formerly known as Englewood A-Train) Green Line was inadvertently affected by the (formerly known as Lake/Dan Ryan) Red Line stop on 63rd. Then Racine went away. I think Halsted was closed, but then reopened. Then there is that mile long stretch that is gone..Harvard, Wentworth (State closed in September of 1973 just before I started taking the train to school) and 58th. I think the only reason why the Ashland branch of the Green Line is still open is because of Kennedy-King College. I could be wrong. I'm sure my timeline is off for certainevents but I think you get my drift. Bottom line...the branch is so underused, would it make sense to extend it?
Green line extensions would be huge for south side and provide great connections. Could also build track from King Drive to Halsted for a 2-4 car shuttle that connects the ends of both “new” green line branches and with the red line at 63rd. would offer a much faster option than the 63 bus
A west radial would be such an interesting and helpful addition to the metro
There was a proposal to extend the Pink North to the Brown Line - creating a sort of ring line. That would be a 2nd Phase of a larger Loop Line.
Love this kinda video, would love to see more public transport hypotheticals for Chicago
This was such an awesome analysis of the dream extensions of the L, great job.
I also think that a circle line needs to be built to connect all the lines that radiate from downtown, thereby providing an easier transfer between the lines so you don’t have to go all the way downtown to transfer to another line. I also think a rush hour express service to the loop for the yellow line similar to the purple line could also be beneficial. That way it’s a one seat ride from Skokie all the way to downtown Chicago
Imo, CTA should focus exclusively on connecting lines (eg blue and brown) and underserved parts of the city rather than providing service to the suburbs. Increasing ridership for the dense urban areas should be our first priority.
Resurrect all of the lost lines/branches especially re-extending the ➡️ 63rd Branch of the Green Line from Cottage Grove to Jackson Park especially for the Obama 📚, also being the Forest Park 🔙 to Westchester, Green Line from Harlem/Lake 🔙 to Forest Park, Orange from Midway to Ford City, & all the other extensions u proposed
@joshuafajardo5697: It was certainly a major mistake discontinuing the lines you just mentioned. They should be revived now that population warrants it.
@@albertcarello619 The Jackson Park Branch especially cause of the Obama Presidential 📚
Why Ford city. It's dead
@@morewi it could revitalize the area
@@joshuafajardo5697 you'd have to improve the crime rates in the area. Ford city Mall is known for gang shootings and most of the store fronts are empty
I'm still new to Chicago, but passionate about the L--videos like this are the perfect synthesis of info and topic to help me learn more about my new home, as well as the transit-history here, and how that might inform activism for a better transit-oriented future :3 thank you for your hard work!
Glad you enjoyed, and welcome to the city! Love your profile picture, btw :3
Ahh, the sweet sounds of discussing Chicago transit 😊
i really hope they reconsider that blue line extension to Woodfield mall, that'd be sick.
Definitely love the orange line extension, should definitely be considered.
And the original green line, even though you made a great case for all.
if the yellow line doesnt get a crawford station, I would at least hope theyd add a flag stop near the skokie shops. it seems ridiculous to me that they dont serve their own rail facility well. just a bus from the next stop down the line.
brown line extension to jeff park would be lovely. one issue though is kimball yard is already at storage capacity, and the service level requested is about as high as we can serve with the yard capacity we have. so if the brown line gets longer we would need to add more yard tracks, upgrade to 5000s, or reduce frequency.
regarding train length, the cars have a maximum length limited by the electronic couplers of 14 cars. however, you cant take a 14 car train into a station which is 8 cars long. 6 of your cars wont have a platform to step onto. so you would need to upgrade every platform on the line, which is incredibly costly. also the train length reminders in the cab only go up to 8.
I don’t think the trains actually need to get longer (except maybe the Pink Line, that can get pretty busy during rush)
That's interesting. Is the 14-car limit consistent between the High Performance family and the 5000/7000 series? What happens if more than 14 are linked together?
@doomsdayrabbit4398 what exactly would happen is above my paygrade. But there are low voltage components which are connected in series across the entire length of the train, so perhaps with excess length you start running into resistances which are too high for such low voltage, and the current drops so low that the signal noise becomes a large enough component to make the data unusable.
This video was so well researched! I love all your ideas. Pink to the United Center. Green to Jackson Park (also, the Obama Library is there). Brown to Jackson Park or Montrose (this I want so much for when I go to O'Hare and Rosemont). Yellow to Old Orchard (beats driving there all the time!), and Blue to Arlington Heights (just in case the Bears move there). The Red Line extension further south is my favorite because no one is served there, and it's about time (despite me not needing to go there). I'm also hoping for a Circle line (so we don't always have to transfer in the Loop) or maybe a line parallel to the Red Line somewhere to the west. And, yes, I'm greedy when I say this... some line or extension to the Museum Campus! Getting to the trains from a Bears game can get annoying.
Thanks for this amazing video!
I'm really surprised there is no Pink Line servie to the U.C. If it was, I may attend games...both hockey and B-Ball.....
My idea for the Forest Park branch of the blue line is to extend it to Mannheim in Hillside on 290 and have it connect there to future lines west to Yorktown Center mall and another line northwest to Schaumburg using the ROWs of I-88 and I-290 respectfully. In order to allow capacity for frequent service on the blue line two more tracks would be added, as was originally planned for when the highway was built, these would allow for express trains that would skip most stops between Hillside and the Loop.
The pink line did go as far west as Oak Park ave at it's zenith and it probably was intended for it to continue west, I'm not sure offhand when it was cut back to where it is today but that is why there is a straight line of parking lot from its terminus. I'd like to see it extended not only to Harlem but along Cermak to Oakbrook Terrace.
Overall some real solid ideas here, well done.
@hawkeyetherailfan: The Cermak Line was cut back to 54TH & Cermak on February 3rd 1952 on a Sunday.
The Pink Line, when it was still known as the Douglas Line, once went all the way to Harlem as you suggest in your video. It was sliced bank in the 1950's and replaced with an "extension bus." I'm sure there were reasons.
We need lines for navy pier and new statiums
I personally would see the expansion of the blue line from ohare. I feel that it would lead to the improvement of the walkability of the nearby neighborhoods particularly around woodfield.
Even though today there is a pace bus going on the highway and has stops on it
I wish they could bring back the Humboldt Park branch
Wonderful speculation and maps!
Great points I agree with them all
rebuild if need be and reopen the humboldt park branch
as someone who recently moved to the nw suburbs, it’s so upsetting knowing there were plans for an extension to the blue line that fell through 😭 i’m so tired of the lack of transit here, and the md west metra line isn’t very helpful with where i wanna go
To leave a more constructive comment, what if the forest park branch got a ramp going east from Illinois medical district to the Paulina connector so forest park trains would be routed around the loop, and O'Hare-Subway trains would end at Racine. Alternatively, Forest Park and O'Hare trains would both use the downtown subway so FP trains would terminate at Clark/Lake (using the grand interlocking to turn around) and O'Hare trains would turn around at UIC or Racine or whatever.
Yellow line to old orchard makes so much snese logistically. Thay can share parking infastructure with the mall, plus, there are tons of employees that will jump on that route so quickly
how did you make that map expanding shot in the beginning? editing on this is great
Here's some Ideas I have
A line that uses The Belt Railway of Chicago (Includes the UP Cragin Sub) and it should be called the Lime Line. Brown line extension to Jefferson Park (and potentially Norwood Park), I'd prefer Grade Separation by an Elevated ROW over Lawerence Avenue because it would be much cheaper to build than a Subway and Plus most of the Brown Line is already Elevated so it should be no problem to grade separate the existing at grade sections. A Blue line Express (Indigo), a restoration of the Humbolt Park branch using an EL over North Avenue, a Blue local (Cyan) that runs from Humbolt Park to UIC-Halsted. The Silver (Gray) Line which would provide a direct connection to OTC, Union Station, LaSalle Street Station and the Blue and Red lines. A Foster/Elston Ave EL from Devon Ave in Norwood Park to Kimball and an Ashland EL from Paulina Brown line to Lake Street, then goes counter-clockwise in the Loop and the Ashland/Lake station would replaced with an Ogden Avenue station and this would be the Gold line. Brown line sidings from Willow street to Illinois street on the North side main line with restored Halsted and Oak street street stations. Yellow line Extension to Old Orchard Road. A Red line branch to Navy Pier. A Green line branch to 69th/Halsted. A Michigan Avenue Subway which would be the Maroon line. Expanded O'Hare and Midway stations as well a Terminal 5 Blue line station. An Ogden Avenue and Blvd system LRT. And Finally a spur off the Southwest corner of the Loop to a station on Roosevelt Road (where the Former Chicago Grand Central Station was) to act as an Alternative Terminus for the Brown and Orange lines to ease congestion in the Loop.
Need a Western Ave bypass line. Asbury in Evanston to 49th st station, possibly on to 63rd to connect to the Green.
Perhaps it is just because I have used this route and I'm self aware of the areas it serves, but the 54A that goes to the Skokie Swift should be, at the very least, having daily service from early morning to late evening. I would LOVE a train connection from Skokie to Mayfair, and that and an extension north of Dempster should both be relatively viable to do at the same time, it's just that the CTA doesn't care enough for the northwest neighborhoods and less for Skokie, I mean you look all the bus routes they've cut fully or reduced in service the past 10 years in the northwest, and then recently for 7 weeks they shut down the Yellow Line, what does that tell you? Sure everywhere else seems decaying but there are real sacrifical lambs for the CTA out there.
Sorry that you didn't do your homework on the yellow/Nothshore line. Stations torn down include Ridge, Asbury Dodge, Crawford,. Emerson Old Orchard all that way to the Chain of Lake, across to Waukegan and up to Milwaukee. The rail right of way that you see from Oakton going south was discontinued after the Union Pacific bought the C&NW RR.
Don’t worry, I know all about the North Shore Line. Its my favorite historical interurban and I wish it was still operational :(
@@karatransitfur did you also forget the Chicago, Elgin and Aurora at the end of the Blue Line, and that the Pink once ran at least to Harlem
I actually didn’t know the pink line originally went farther - though that definitely makes sense.
For this video I more wanted to look at the system in context of the current day - ideally, all the Interurbans would still be around!
They will need to loop to send some train back or a b service
nice video but as someone who isnt really familiar with chicago id really appreciate it if it was more obvious what is where. keep up the good work tho
Not exactly for a specific line, but an L extension to the pier would be a logical eastward conclusion. I’m thinking continuing from Lake Street to Columbus Drive then making a mini loop out of Illinois Street, Ohio Street and Grand Avenue back to Columbus Drive and then back to main loop. Which line would traffic that line?
How are the old stations and metal structures gonna transition into modern, what I assume must be concrete ones?
Great video as always! Always remember the #1 rule: train good. My philosophy is even if a train only serves one person, that still warrants it being built. I don't feel transit projects should be scrapped because the costs outweigh the benefits, since any form of rail transit still connects countless communities no matter how expensive it may be to build the line.
if the pink line gets extedeed ti the malll its new terminal shoulg get a new transit center connected to it. and probably b morwe exoesive be undergroud or at least an tunnel to the mall
Make it bigger make it so I can go to normal IL
Look what's happening out in Los Angeles!!? Lines have been resurrected like the trolley line from Los Angeles to Long Beach! Now the A Line that runs on the approximate alignment of the Old Pacific Electric and now light rail trolley lines to Santa Monica and several miles east of Pasadena Cal. Also a trolley line to Redondo Beach Cal. and Norwalk Cal.!!! Also a line to Culver City California.
And the hopeful PE West Santa Ana Branch into the Southeast Gateway
I feel the 3 branches of Metra electric should become CTA lines instead. Let the Metra electric go to the southern most point and maybe extend, but the two lines to blue island should be CTA lines, one of them maybe a south purple line (like the red). The line that ens near the IN border could be the third line. construct the "purple line" to go into the loop, and the there two into millennium station.
I wish the Schaumburg blue line extension existed because I love by there
why not run the green line to midway ?
blue line should go to aurora..
@cassidy_c: Great idea. I imagine the basic fare to and from there would be in the vicinity of $9 or $10 close to the cost of a METRA TICKET is my guess.
The CA&E used to. It would have used the south pair of portals east of UIC-Halsted had it not gone bankrupt while it was prohibited from operating east of Forest Park while the Eisenhower was constructed.
The pink line used that extenion years ago
The c a e went to Wheaton, Batavia Aurora, Elgin, st charlies, geneva
The New Damen CTA Green Line Station Is Finally Open Right Now
This can happen if we get rid of Dorval Carter
Agree, these people are provincial hacks. Zero creativity, zero public awareness.
I know the south end of the red and green lines are in bad areas. How would that affect BRT. And how bad is the area where the Red extension will end?
One of the reasons the South Side is a rougher area is because of historical disinvestment and discrimination - as I mentioned in the video, its majority minority and one of the goals of the extension is to provide access to jobs and economic opportunities for these historically underserved communities. Obviously, the extension alone won’t fix everything, but it’s hopefully a good step towards reducing poverty and increasing opportunity in those areas.
Just another idea would be to Connect seat geek stadium to the orange line to midway downtown
I think an Outer "Loop" would serve many communities and fill multiple gaps and opportunities.
E/W from Red Argyle along Foster (Lawrence?)
N/S along Cicero
w/ connections to Blue Montrose, Green, Blue, & Pink Cicero & Orange MDW
Then E/W along 79th via Red 79th to Metra Electric at Cheltanham/79th
This would almost certainly be an underground line and expensive.
But it would create key corridors for communities that have to go into the Loop and back out, or rely entirely on buses.
should we probably put a hell a lot of trains back to the CTA… The frequency is abysmal for a rapid transit this size.
I mean do that first
This is great! Were you at the MFF transit panel?
8 cars are dangerous enough. My mother was a car maintenance supervisor. Trust me
It need yo go to lake cook road
I know these are extensions but we really need a new north/south line up and down Kedzie or so that mirrors the red line.
4:16 The Pink line (or Douglas Branch before it was the 54/Cermak branch of Blue Line) used to extend all the way to Harlem. That's why you say it is a "perfect right of way of parking lots" -- because all of that used to be train tracks for the CTA. CTA closed it all down in 1952 shortly after they took over the Douglas line.
Used to take the Blue Line downtown to DePaul, and back to Forest Park, but can't tell you how many times I accidentally got on the "B" train to 54/Cermak instead, fell asleep, and woke up at the end of the wrong line.
8:04 in addition to that, I wanna see rush hour service to the Loop à la the Purple Line on the Yellow Line as well
Regarding the Washington metro, it’d be interesting to know how many miles they added with that silver line to Dulles.
Replace the yellow line with the silver line because Silver is good for a shuttle train the new yellow line stops the blue line from having branches 3:42 .
Street cars back for ciceros, 63 rd street, western equiped to change signals
Drawing the lines is the fun and easy part. Now do a video where you show options for dedicated tax increases that can fund regular transit extensions, as well as the political coalitions that can be assembled to help overcome do-nothing inertia of both institutions and the general public.
This is why I mainly try and keep my crayons/line drawings somewhat feasible - I know the political and financial challenge of actually building these is immense so I want to focus on things that I may see in my lifetime!
Should be funded via land value tax. Transit gives value to land, and we should capture a portion of the incremental value.
The Brown line needs to extend past Kimble to reach the Blue line.
For the United Center, they’re bragging like the new Green Line station at Damen is gonna open up access to the UC for the first time. However what I don’t get is why do more people not take the Blue Line there and get off at the Medical District? When I took my wife to the Olivia Rodrigo concert last March that’s how we went, but we were part of only a small handful of people doing that.
The Green Line station won’t be that much closer (maybe a few feet…..), so I don’t get how it will change anything. A Pink Line station actually would be closer and I don’t know why it doesn’t already exist.
They do not have a station at Madison for a reason. It would deplete profits from parking at the UC. There was a Madison station at one time. It could easily be done. Our elected leaders do not care about you. Lack of funding, my ass.
Terminating so many L lines at malls just doesn’t seem to make sense to me given that malls are becoming economically unviable. Brown line seems very truncated. It could either go in the direction you’re talking about or maybe further north toward Lincolnwood or one of the other suburbs on that side of the city.
The mall point is a great point - in the case of the yellow line, there’s also the high school there (and old orchard seems to be doing fine).
For the pink, the mall just happens to be where I feel a decent ending spot is - and perhaps in the future the transit there could be a catalyst to new development replacing the mall.
A handful of malls are doing okay. Back in September I visited one near Elmhurst and it was packed.
"Malls are becoming economically unviable"....Definitely agree with your assessment. Many are doing online shopping, which hass hurt foot traffic. I think we are of the same thought.....