February 23, 2008
Doors Open On the Left...At Lombard?
If the RTA extended the Blue Line out to the Yorktown Mall in Lombard, would you go? The Sun-Times reported yesterday that possible improvements to the city's transit system could include a longer trek on the Forest Park line, new bus routes on major expressways, and a north-south train between Midway and O'hare, among other things.
But did you know that the CTA used to run all the way out to Aurora? It did...kinda. It was called the inter-urban rail system, and in 1905, the Chicago Aurora & Elgin (also known as the Great Third Rail) railroad started sharing rails into the city proper with the CTA, allowing passengers direct access to the El from towns like Aurora, Batavia, Geneva and Westchester. According to Chicago-l.org, in 1953, the CA&E ceased operation past Des Plaines, forcing riders to make the switch to CTA trains there. In 1957, they shut down entirely at noon with no warning, stranding passengers downtown.
The track was torn up and eventually became part of the Congress Street Expressway (later renamed the Eisenhower) and parts of the rail line ended up as Prarie Path trails. Another bit of trivia: when the CTA purchased the Chicago Rapid Transit Company in October of 1947, it cost the city $12 million. The Sun-Times says that these magical wish-list items could run up to $8 billion.
Image from Chicago-l.org. A much larger version of the image can be found here.
| 
What about the Circle Line? Is that not happening any more?
"hat about the Circle Line? Is that not happening any more?"
It's in the process of being submitted to the Federal Government for matching dollars.
http://www.transitchicago.com/news/whatsnew2.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&articleid=124434
However, it's been stalled due to the budget crisis so don't expect the CTA to move on this anytime soon.
Can the Circle Line conceivably be finished in the event we get the 2016 olympics?
This is much ado about nothing. The state and the RTA,CTA,Pace are broke and dont have enough money for a subway sandwich much less a extension of the blue line.
That map just shows (as if you couldn't tell by going down the street) how much population the West Side has lost.
So, what happened to the plan to extend the O'Hare line to Woodfield?
Or the Swift to Old Orchard or Edens Plaza, thus replicating the North Shore line which went out of business in Jan. 63.
Oh, the billions we're going to end up spending to rebuild what we had!