Evolution of the Chicago "L" 1892-2029 (geographic map)
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- The history of the Chicago "L" starting from the opening of the first elevated line in 1892 to the planned future expansion is shown in this animation.
#Chicago #subway #metro
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/ @metroliner
I always thought the funniest thing about Chicago is that it became one of the best cities in north america by simply not destroying all of its mass transit. So many cities fucked up by taking action to remove their trains / streetcars but all Chicago had to do was... not do that.
Yeah, like San Francisco removed everything like a year after they just finished a new line
Chicago not only kept the basic framework of elevated railway intact, but also managed to secure funds for slow but steady service expansion, something that NYC failed to do
basically even through the budget cuts the system maintained most of the actually important trunk lines, so it could recover later.
Some fact-checking corrections here. Chicago closed down the last line of its once-extensive streetcar network in 1958, after the CTA honchos decided some years earlier they did not want to continue to pay upkeep and maintenance costs, and hence replace it with busses. A downtown circulator light rail line was proposed and funded through the engineering development stage in the early to mid-1990s, but was then literally thrown under the bus by mayor Richard Daley, (aka Mayor 'Goofy') in 1995 after the IL state legislature and Congress reacted negatively by cutting their funding segments after Daley (the same mayor who had initially pushed the project) made a sudden power-grab play for increased control over O'Hare airport. A subsequent LRT project between N. Riverside and Navy Pier was given some consideration, but eventually deep-sixed as well. Chicago also helped destroy one of the area's prime interurban railroads (Chicago, Aurora, & Elgin) by denying it continued access to the Loop over the newly-built Congress Expressway line in the late 1950s, which replaced the West 'L' Metropolitan line, over which the CA&E had long shared trackage. Then there were the prior plans for an extensive downtown 'distributor' subway and a Franklin Street deep subway in the 1970s, but they of course went nowhere. As have more recent 'plans' (i.e, just talk) for a north-south crosstown connector rapid transit or LRT line. Another renowned big interurban serving the Loop, the Chicago, North Shore, & Milwaukee line, shut down in 1963. A number of segments of the 'L' were abandoned from the 1940s thru the 1960s, including service out to the suburb of Westchester. True, service to the airports was built, as was a Red Line south extension, but there has been nothing else, unless one wants to also count the paltry, so-called Bus Rapid Transit downtown, with other outlying lines having been talked about, but no action taken. And should I even mention the once-touted Metra suburban rail commuter service outer STAR line, which also faded into the transit mist? The most recent apparent joke is LRT between the 'Lincoln Yards' (?) area on the north side and the Loop. Don't hold your breath waiting. Chicago has become a town of blowhard plans but little action.
They also improved their streetcars by elevating them around the city.
This is why Chicago’s subway cars aren’t that big and long because they are actually an evolution of Chicago’s streetcar system I’m which the streetcars would come downtown and be grade separated from traffic
they need some serious outer circle/half-circle line. Also other althernative routes going through downtown.
They had a proposal to extend the Paulina Connector (Pink Line) north and north-east to connect to the Blue and Red Line and south to the Orange Line and form a half-circle (rest of the circle using the existing Red and Orange Line tracks). Unfortunately the project has been shelved :(.
Sadly, we live in a city where North, West and South sides don’t interact as much as one might want. A lot of historical factors, including a strong neighborhood vs downtown tradition. As I look at the map, it’s a lot of going to and from downtown.
i just want a line that goes from the north to south but on the west side of the city. it was such a pain having to take the orange to downtown to switch onto the blue line to go northwest
Whilst it may seem inconvenient most of us are fine with not having a circle line as it was called, of the many other projects that need to be done that’s least of our concerns. Better rails on Forest Park Branch of Blue, extending the red to 130th, orange to Ford City or yellow to Old Orchard. There are plenty of bus routes that serve the same job as what would be the circle line.
Too me that is the missing piece. Historically speaking these lines do well. NY is finally doing it. Sadly the cut out the Bronx.
Its crazy to think that Chicago manged to keep its Elevated Lines from the 1892 to present
Puts the CTA's service cuts in the 40's and 50's into perspective. Absolutely butchered the system. Combined with the demolition of the Metropolitan to make way for I-290 and the loss of all but one of the express services, and it really makes me wonder how far ahead the city's transit could be. How much bigger would the 'L' be if the CTA had expanded, instead of cutting back in the hopeless aim of "profitability"
Probably bigger than it is now
I'm very thankful for living in Chicago where I don't have to drive anywhere. But, how amazing it would've been to have the now decommissioned lines part of the current system. So many people want a circle line and it has been studied and proposed. Just too many obstacles
Most of the city isn’t covered lmao
@@michaelthompson679True. However, I think he may be referring to using a combination of trains and buses. Most of the major streets do have buses. Unfortunately given the current state of the CTA ("ghost" buses and trains that are scheduled to arrive, but never do, for example), it may take 3 to 6 times as long to get to your destination than driving.
Wow, so back in 1947, there were 100 more stations than there are now.
Yup! Closing down the stations did speed up the service significantly though.
All of those intermediate stops served a purpose before the streetcars and eventual buses. Once that alternative became available, taking out those stops serves to make the L a ‘rapid’ alternative for quicker service.
A cool thing! Despite closing some of those branch lines, and old terminus stations, the CTA today still has more trackage now (15mi~) more then they did back then! :) That's something we're doing better!
@@P0w2you 15 miles is absolutely nothing especially when only a small portion of neighbourhoods now have access to it because all the branches closed
@@P0w2you 15 miles???? That’s less then half the length of the A train in NYC by itself jesus
The 40s & 50s were brutal, lots of closures (though the State Street & Dearborn/Milwaukee subways opened)... quite possibly the worst being the loss of the Humboldt Park branch. Cutting the Douglas branch (now pink line) service through Berwyn was also unfortunate (the right of way still exists for the most part). The Kenwood Branch would be nice to still have as well, especially as the south lakefront neighborhoods continue to see gradual reinvestment. Now an elevated trail is planned for the Kenwood Branch embankment almost to the lakefront, though unfortunately a residential development was allowed to build through the right-of-way a few blocks from the lake meaning the trail won't connect all the way to Lake Michigan. Also wish the green line still extended to Jackson Park where the Obama Presidential Center is under construction. And considering the oft mentioned idea of a north-south line further west of downtown, usually either along Western or Ashland, having the full Paulina connector still in place might have been useful today to allow movement via rail without having to go through downtown.
Yes, transit everywhere with cars and expressways built. Chicago also had about a million more people in its city limits in 1950s. None of this map shows Metra and South Shore trains too which serve suburbs and about 1/3 stops in city
Yeah tearing down the green line to Jackson Park has to be the most regretted transit decision the city has ever made
Riding the elevated lines chugging four dozen mini stations to the Loop back then must have been excruciating 😅
Haha, yes! They really had a station almost every other block.
It wasn't really that bad since all of the mainlines had extra tracks for express service. All of them except the ones used by the purple line were ripped out during the CTA's massive cuts.
Yeah, as public transit became less of a novelty, I imagine having stops
It was annoying, but the trains were shorter and they came WAY more often, sometimes dangerously close together, and often had complicated service patterns that skipped stops or ran express in sections, so people dealt with it
As a Chicagoan, I'm incredibly sadden to see how our system was gutted in the 1950s post-WW2 auto era.
To think most of the circle line ROW already existed by the Paulina connector, and now all of that land is housing/buildings that can't be displaced.
At least you guys still HAVE a system to rely on. Other cities aren't so lucky
I’ve been waiting for this video for years but you have finally delivered. I really couldn’t be happier and I believe such a video is too good to be watched for free. Thank you!
Wow, thank you! I really appreciate it!! Chicago was always on top of my list but I couldn't dare to start because I knew it would take a lot of time. It was definitely one of the most time-consuming projects, comparable to NYC or London but I'm glad I finally delivered!
@@MetroLiner When you're ready for another challenge, try the Metra lines.
что?
Post-war period is hard to watch, we lost so much. Some has been regained but there's a lot of work to go
I genuinely feel like a north-south line that would run on the outer perimeters of the city would completely revolutionize Chicago’s transit ridership.
Like a subway line down cicero.
@@iwouldliketoorderanumber1b79 Or Pulaski.
Toronto
>Has half the lines of Chicago
>has half the station of Chicago
>Has half yhe track length of Chicago
>Has double the ridership
>has a crosstown line north of downtown
I live right behind where old Douglas Branch line used to run through. Right by the Austin station. Nowadays it’s called the EL Strip and is used as a parking lot that runs through where the old line once did. The Town of Cicero has started repairing and repaving the parking lot strip, and you could still see the old rails under the old asphalt they removed. Pretty cool piece of history there!
This must have taken forever to research, insanely well made!
Kinda sad that in the next decades all that's planned is one small extension.
Yea lost a lot of lines, and this small extension has been promised since the 60’s I believe.
Worth mentioning that the Lawrence and Berwyn stations on the Red Line are currently closed until 2024 for reconstruction while they completely replace the section of track between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr on the Red/Purple Express Line
Bless. Came to post this.
Possibly the greatest city in America. I love Chicago.
What else?
@@armorpro573 Chicago.
@@damonomstead4765 Didn’t know there was a twin city. LOL maybe I’ll go visit
Crazy to see that half of the video is about building and half of it about tearing things down
Wow, how many stations have been closed...
Two coworkers just appeared together lol
You have gone so far… I Remember when I subbed when you did your second Video on New York. It’s amazing how you can grow so much, Good Job
Chicago L
Red Line 1985
Orange Line 1993
Yellow Line 1993
Green Line 1985
Blue Line 1985
Purple Line 1985
Pink Line 2006
0:00 1890s
2:04 1900s
4:52 1910s
5:53 1920s
6:38 1930s
7:02 1940s
8:00 1950s
10:24 1960s
11:14 1970s
11:55 1980s
12:18 1990s
13:56 2000s
14:17 2010s
15:14 2020s
This was a monumental task.. glad this exists for us fans of trains. Thanks for history lesson.. truly enjoyed how this system changed with the times!
Wow. Thank you so much!!
@@MetroLinerthere are still people here almost 1 year later :D
Definitely my favorite video you've made to date. and I'm not just saying that cause I'm from Chicago. Outstanding work as always!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Only problem I noticed in the video was the lack of mentioning the two interurban lines that connected to the L, which was the Chicago Aurora & Elgin, and the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee.
I know the North Shore Traveled on the "L" and even rounded the loop, but did the Aurora & Elgin? Did CA&E run on what is today CTA lines? Which line would that be, The Blue line at Forrest park???
In some ways I'm glad he didn't mention them because that could've added way too many miles and stations to inflate the look of the system, but a mention of when they ended service, would've been extraordinary.
@@P0w2you Yes, CA&E ran on the Garfield Park branch until it closed to be replaced with the current Forest Park branch. Their insurance didn't allow them to run on the temporary tracks, cutting them back to Forest Park station, but space was made in the middle of the expressway for their tracks, possibly to connect to Union Station via subway. The portals are still there, but end a few feet in, just north of the Blue Line as it leaves UIC-Halsted, as the CA&E shut down before work on the expressway was completed.
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 I always wondered why the Forest Park line has so much space! I had thought to myself before if it was meant for quad tracks. thanks for the info!
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 The portals at Halsted were for a potential re-routing of the Lake St. line down the Paulina Connector to the Congress Line and into a Clinton St. subway. They were never meant for the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin interurban. That's a common misconception. The CTA wanted the CA&E as well as the North Shore Line off of its tracks.
@@amfm889 The Lake Elevated was supposed to enter the Dearborn Subway from Lake Street itself, via a never constructed portal that would lead to the crossover just west of Clark/Lake.
Still hoping you'll do Boston! The history of the MBTA (oldest subway system in the US) being formed from different transit agencies, extensive rebranding, expansion and getting redirected by the Big Dig would make for an interesting video.
They really do need to add an outer loop line in my opinion. It would really help with travel time and convenience. Instead of having to go all the way through downtown and the loop. I also think that a dedicated express line from the loop near Union Station to O’Hare is needed. It’s absolutely ridiculous that you have to suffer through the agonizing ride of the blue line just to get to O’Hare if you don’t have any other transportation options.
There's the Metra NCS line
I would encourage you to do one on Chicago's Metra & South Shore systems (suburban commuter rail lines). Metra has been expanding and still has more plans for expansion.
This is so sad to watch. A city the size of Chicago should have like 20 Subway or elevated lines criss crossing the city, yet, many lines were closed over time. Just sad.
Watching the stations disappear is just depressing. Absolutely bonkers what happened to transit in the 1950s to 1990s.
Thank the cars for that… oh and the politicians
15 minutes long, wow
The longest video so far!
I think the station names should be listed as the lines show up. It’s kinda messy for me to keep track of the lines 😵💫
Greatest city in the United States. Thanks for covering it!
Mine is Austin
Lol I actually live in Austin now. It's all right, but unfortunately it's in Texas.
@@timmccarthy872 What’s wrong with that?
@@armorpro573 What's wrong with it is that Texas suuuuuuuuuuuuucks
@@timmccarthy872 LOL ok then.
Great Video but btw the CTA actually started operation in 1947 not 1943. It turned 75 this year (2022) and celebrated it with some vintage stock!
You are right! I did have 1947 written in my notes but somehow it ended up as 1943 in the video :(
@@MetroLiner hey look on the bright side it’s no where near a mistake as all the closed stations. I get CTA had to make choices but man they went overboard!
@@MetroLiner also you would’ve LOVED the 75 Celebration they brought out some of the old equipment.
yeah
The Chicago Loop could certainly use at least a couple streetcar/surface LRT lines; particularly around the Magnificent Mile, Grant Park, Lincoln Park, UIC, and the Adler Planetarium/Museum campus.
The obvious benefits aside, many of the 60 foot buses I’ve seen operating within the Loop seemed quite worn physically.
Street car on MM would be amazing.
Chicago has probably the best public transportation system in the united states next to NYC. NYC is an obvious #1.
Chicago either needs to reopen the Paulina Connector or build a new connecting line lol.
It is reopened. The Pink line uses it. Too bad there isn't a station at Madison-United Center.
@@largetman With the proposed UC upgrades, this could still happen. The new Green Line addition at Damen helps.
The American train system is bad enough that this and New York are considered their crown jewels.
Please do Hamburg U Bahn, S Bahn and Regionalbahn next! PLEASE
I mean if they just opened two more half-sphere lines then I'd say the Chicago "L" is the best in the world.
Imagine buying a place closer to a subway station and they shut it down or even remove the line. Ooof that must suckkkk.
And it is crazy how many times that happened in Chicago
You missed the summer where the Red Line took over service to Ashland/63rd while the Dan Ryan branch closed for renovation.
You're doing a great job, keep it up !
So, I have some (a lot of) requests for you:
Danemark: Copenhagen;
France: Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille;
Panama: Panama city;
China: Nanjing, Shanghaï, Chengdu, Kunming;
Belgium: Brussels;
Macau: Macau;
Qatar: Doha;
UAE: Dubaï;
Bulgaria: Sofia;
Netherlands: Rotterdam, Amsterdam;
Poland: Warsaw;
Germany: Nuremberg, Munich;
India: Delhi/New Delhi;
Iran: Teheran;
Thaïland: Bangkok;
Spain: Barcelona;
Japan: Nagoya;
Italy: Roma;
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur;
USA: Washington D.C. ;
Russia: St Petersburg.
Have fun ^^
Whoups !
You already did Delhi...
Let's delete it from the requests.
The attention to detail of your vid’s is insane man, kudos to you
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏! Excellent presentation! But, one that will have a sequel, as more information leaks out about the possible Orange Line Extension to Ford City (what should have been in the first place) the reimplementation of an extended Blue Line to Mannheim Road and the "Silver Line to Sch-" 😉!
This was definitely worth the wait! Bravo!
Also, just realized that Loomis/Ogden station's dot on the map stayed all the way to the end, despite the station closing in 1954.
Grid cities are much easier to plan a metro line than other planned cities.
They should make an L line above Ashland Avenue with a Track connection to the Blue line and Demolish the Ashland Green/Pink station and replace it with an Ogden Avenue station.
Nicely done
Next one can be Boston? The T have more story than you think >:³
For an American city, it's a good system. But compared to a city of that size in a developed, non North American country, it is woefully inadequate.
At least it’s better than none. Try Indianapolis for instance
Great video! Interesting to see the closed sections, Chicago's economy has changed over the years
Ah yes the Chicago *L*
Please do a video on the DC Metro. Especially the new silver line
Used to live in Humboldt Park and it kills me to think there was dedicated L service there 😢
I wonder if they're gonna reopen those three closed lines on the Blue line
The 1940s and higher makes me sad with all the stations and rail lines closing. Some make sense, but others, just sad.
As a train enthusiast, pains to see my favorite mode of transport being taken by cars
i really hope you do dc metro. I would love that
Its crazy to see that in the span of 20 years
The network just chopped off more than 30 KM worth of lines
I was using this system in 2017 and I was far from being impressed.
Who's here after the green line Damen station open
For such a big city as Chicago the transportation is very poor. 40s & the 50s were totally brutal. Huge transport companies lost out to cars henceforth implementing motorways or freeways destroying so many local communities. I love the city when visiting but I have to admit the subway system is not good for the size and could do a lot better. But saying this Chicago is one of the best cities in the US to have mass transportation.
At least they HAVE a transit system, unlike some like Indianapolis. Also it's actually well maintained
Great video! What is the music from 11:30? Thanks for your answers.
That`s great!
Also, central underground stations in Chicago are very interesting - they are giant long station halls common for 3-4 stops, without changinng to the "common" tunnels.
Could you make Kyiv metro in some of your future videos, please?
They were built that way to serve as fallout shelters - especially the Blue Line, which was completed after the war ended. No idea how well it'd work with the massive entrances to the surface, but I suppose they might have helped if a smaller device was used.
They were not built to be fallout shelters. They were built as part of Chicago's "Pedway" system of underground walkways. Back then there were no fare gates, so you could walk along the platform from one end of the loop to the other. Construction on the subways started in the 1930's, long before anyone would have been building fallout shelters.
They didn't need yellow and purple line as a different lines...
The video doesn’t make it super clear, but the Purple Line actually only runs express south of Howard during rush hour, so it’s a great option for cross the north side much more quickly than the Brown or Red lines (all of the stops north of Howard are served all the time, but only a few south of there during rush hour). Not having Red Line trains go all the way to Linden then increases frequencies on the Red Line.
The Yellow Line has an entire complicated history of how it ended up its own Line, which the Wikipedia explains better than I could.
The Purple line runs local from Linden to Howard off-peak, but during rush hour runs express south from Howard to Wilson, then supplements the Brown line stops onto the Loop. The North side Elevated from Howard is quad-tracked south all the way to Fullerton. The Yellow Line only has two cars and is a short branch with three stations.
@@deepinthecoats1432 your explanation is very well-explained but you forgot one big reason as to why this can be done. The north Side elevated is 4 tracks wide, express on the outer tracks, local stops on the inner tracks.
@@bkark0935 yes absolutely! The infrastructure is there and massively relieves congestion on the most heavily used portions of the system. I don’t think the video mentioned the express nature of the Purple Line, which would have given more context.
these 2 lines will not make sense to me hahaha or why the purple isnt just the red extended.
Sad how American systems get smaller after the '40s.
Chicago was lucky that none of the large steam railroads purchased the elevated lines like SP did to my city, which closed all lines in 1927 and replaced them with gutter trolleys.
I see that like Philadelphia, after being acquired by the City, there was a removal of lines, luckily someone figured out that extending the system was good.
I was like:
“No please stop closing stations ! Noooooo!!!!”
Yeeee
yes, finally, i needed this in my life. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicago has it's rail and commuter traffic down a science. Car traffic is not bad like NYC, LA or The ATL
why there no one that go es out into the lake
Build👏the👏Western👏Avenue👏Line
Do Vancouver next.
But Is fake details not real.
Great presentation, however you should have inserted a token arrow to indicate the connection to the North Shore and the CA&E.
As soon as it became public everything got reduced, I just hope that theprice made up for that.
make one for boston mbta pls
bart Muni Caltrain vta?
They should re-extend the ➡️ 63rd Branch 🔙 to Jackson Park
Is there anything worth going to past 95th Street. What's unique past 95th Street that isn't already accessible by the current CTA?
It's Time for you to do a Train Map Evolution on Chicago's Metra System ( aka The Regional Transit Authority, or RTA).
Watching the timeline approach 1947 is like watching one of those scenes from Final Destination :’(
Again asking to make Evo. of Tbilisi Metro.
Also I enjoy your content!
Congrats! It must have been hard to research the multiple & constant line and station changes which have taken place on the Chicago subway system throughout its history and then, put them in this video in such a cool way.
The vast majority of these lines originated 130 years ago and we have not been making progress til only recently. This is just frustrating but hopefully we r going in the right direction
They really need to add new lines that connect the outskirts/suburban of the city...
This is exactly the problem of this transit
There is the 11-line Metra commuter train network which covers the wider region, and has many stations within the city as well, but it’s not covered in this video.
@@deepinthecoats1432 ohhhh that’s very informative! Is the interval of trains convenient though
@@Propapanda0213 the intervals are certainly less frequent than the L trains, and I’m sure the frequency has had some changes since Covid due to service disruptions. I do use it from time to time to head to areas of the city not covered by the L, and for trips to the further out suburban region, but I don’t use it frequently enough to know service patterns in detail. It is geared for more work-time commuting than everyday anytime use.
On another note, the Red and Blue lines are the only rapid transit train lines in the US with 24hr service other than the NYC subway.
@@Propapanda0213 Not unless you live off of BNSF or the Electric District main line. Service is once an hour AT BEST on most of them the whole day, and outside of rush hour on those two... and good luck on Sunday, when it's once every TWO.
Take a look at what the rest of the world is doing - outside America - and you'll see this is a joke in comparison. The US will be left behind. Sad, really.
Sorry gotta spend the money on israel, ukraine, and welfare
This map does not take into account Suburban rail lines and bus routes. Chicago's system is far more complex than you can see here.
Pls do Perth and Sydney
Elevated tracks made of wood were built as early as 1892 and late as 1969
You forgot the northshore service and the elgin auroura line the surface linez
The World Fair allowed an explosion of rail lines.
please do Boston!!!!!
The Underground Subway is Only in Downtown Area.
Not true. O'Hare, Belmont and Logan Square are all subway stops outside of the Downtown area.
@@akis3556 My Bad.
@@akis3556 Also Division/Chicago/Grand on the blue line.
@@wfelixluck Man, I count that as Downtown. To me, Downtown is from Roosevelt to Lincoln Park and anything east of the river.
That’s a big L
Can you make one for Dallas-Fortworth?
It is on channel "DirectionNorth".
11:34 the music pops right here.
What is that dot next to the Green-Pink Lines Station of Ashland?
Thanks for the nice Video 😁👍!
Awesome Video. Thanks for posting ⭐