The West Side of Chicago is served by three
lines, Blue (two prongs), Green and Pink.
From the northwest, Blue Line trains start at O'Hare Airport and go toward
downtown along the Kennedy Expy., and then into a stretch of subway
near Logan Square that connects into a stretch of several old "L" stations. Then comes the
Dearborn Subway under downtown. Trains continue out west
along the Eisenhower Expy. to Forest Park.
The Pink and Green Lines use the Loop. Pink is the newest color in the system. Despite this
distinction, its route is entirely along very old segments of the CTA.
It uses the full Loop clockwise, and runs jointly west from
downtown with the Green
Line over Lake St. At Paulina the Pink Line turns south and then
joins what was formerly a Blue Line branch to reach 54th/Cermak in Cicero.
The Green Line, which uses two of the four legs of the Loops, stays over or near Lake St., over out
to its Harlem/Lake terminal in Oak Park.
The Blue Line route, and Pink away from the Green -- are successors,
replacements for, extensions to or contractions of the lines operated by the old
Metropolitan West Side Elevated. The Green Line west traces
its lineage to the former Oak Park Elevated.
The photo on this page shows the portal in the distance that will take our
Blue Line train from
O'Hare into the subway near downtown. Frequent signals
control proper speed on the long downgrade. |
