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CTA Holiday Train Returns This Weekend, With Elves! Here's How To Track It

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 18, 2016 4:00PM

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2015 Sprint CTA Holiday Train / CTA Flickr

It’s a balmy 63 degrees as I write this, but I just checked the calendar, and no foolin', it is actually fall, and the holiday season is right around the corner. Another sign of the looming times? The CTA’s holiday train is very nearly about to hit the rails, kicking off its 25th year on Saturday.

Whether you welcome it as festive transit wonderland or shudder at one more, nightmarish unavoidable reminder of the retail-mad, stress-inducing season, you gotta give the CTA points for consistency and, this year, some added novelty. A brand-new "Elves' Workshop Train" joins the fleet for 2016. The new addition is a six-car train, bedazzled with thousands of lights, much ornamental flair and perhaps some residual budget anxiety.

The holiday train kicks off its return starting on the Red Line on Saturday, operating between 4:40 and 7:45 pm. The Elves’ Workshop will follow behind. You can check out the Saturday schedule here. After Saturday, they’ll return on Nov 25, running regularly through December 23 with expanded lines.

Sat., November 19: Red Line
Fri., November 25: Green Line
Sat., November 26: Green Line
Tue., November 29: Green & Orange Lines
Wed., November 30: Brown & Orange Lines
Thu., December 1: Brown and Orange Lines
Fri., December 2: Brown & Orange Lines
Sat., December 3: Brown & Orange Line
Tue., December 6: Pink Line
Wed., December 7: Pink Line
Thu., December 8: Blue Line
Fri., December 9: Blue Line
Sat., December 10: Blue Line
Tue., December 13: Red Line
Wed., December 14: Purple Line
Thu., December 15: Red Line
Fri., December 16: Purple Line
Sat., December 17: Red & Purple Lines
Thu., December 22: Purple Line Express
Fri., December 23: Yellow Line

More info about holiday trains and buses, including full schedules and travel tips, can be found here.