Purple Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
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Template:Chicago L The Purple Line of the Chicago Transit Authority is a 3.9 mile rapid transit line on the northernmost section of the Chicago 'L' network. Normally, it extends south from the Wilmette terminal at Linden Avenue, passing through Evanston to Howard Street, on Chicago's northern city limits.
The Purple Line operates weekdays 4am to 1am, Saturdays 5am to 2am, and Sundays 6am to 1am. During weekday rush hours (approximately 6am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm), the Purple Line extends another 10.3 miles south from Howard Street to downtown Chicago running express from Howard Street to Belmont Avenue, and then making all local stops to the Loop. The express service is known as the Purple Line Express, while the Linden-Howard only service is the Purple Line Shuttle.
Prior to the color-coding of CTA rail lines in 1993, the Purple Line was known as the Evanston Line, Evanston Service, or Evanston Shuttle, while the Purple Line Express was called the Evanston Express. Many Chicagoans still refer to the Purple Line by these names.
The Purple Line is useful for reaching Northwestern University (Davis, Foster, and Noyes stops in Evanston) and the Bahá'í House of Worship (Linden stop). The selection of purple as the line's color was likely no accident, as Northwestern's official school color is purple.
Contents |
Operation
Beginning at the Linden Avenue terminal in Wilmette, which contains a small storage yard and car service shop, the Purple Line traverses the North Shore area on private right-of-way which begins at street grade. Running southeasterly from Wilmette, the line rises past Isabella Street on the Wilmette-Evanston border then bridges the North Shore Channel immediately north of Central Street, the first stop in Evanston. The line, now on an elevated embankment, curves southward parallel to Sherman Street. Continuing south, the line enters downtown Evanston and stops at Davis Street, then curves southeasterly again to parallel Chicago Avenue and Metra's Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way to Clark Street just north of the CTA's Howard Yard facilities.
Here the line crosses through the yard area before the junction with the Red Line and the Yellow Line. The tracks are split on grade separated structures to allow Yellow Line trains to enter the junction from the west. Immediately south of the yard lies the Howard Street terminal, where Red, Purple, and Yellow Line trains all terminate. To the west of the station is a CTA/Pace bus terminal, parking garage and a shopping center.
There are four operational tracks starting at the Howard station, continuing on to the Armitage station. During weekday rush hours, the Purple Line runs express on the outermost tracks, skipping all stops until Belmont. From Belmont to Merchandise Mart, the Purple Line and Brown Line share the outside tracks and both make all stops along the route.
At the Loop, the Purple Line extends clockwise around the Inner Loop track via Lake-Wabash-Van Buren-Wells making all Loop stops, before returning north making the same trip in reverse.
History
The Evanston/Purple Line was placed in operation on May 16, 1908 between Central Street, Evanston and the Loop when the former Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company extended its mainline service over leased electrified steam railroad trackage owned by the Chicago, Milwakuee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. On April 2, 1912, the line reached its present-day terminal at Linden Avenue, Wilmette.
In 1922, the surface level section of the North Side 'L' was elevated onto a concrete embankment structure between Leland Avenue and Howard Street, and was expanded from two to four tracks, thus allowing complete express service from Wilmette and Evanston to downtown Chicago. Several segments of the Evanston Branch itself ran at street level until 1928, when it was elevated onto a concrete embankment between Church Street and the North Shore Channel. It was placed in operation on January 29, 1928.
The current service on what is known as the Purple Line went into effect on July 31, 1949, after a massive service re-orientation on the North-South rapid transit system by the still infant Chicago Transit Authority:
- Evanston-Wilmette Local service (Linden-Howard) at all times.
- Evanston Express service (Linden-Loop) during Weekday and Saturday rush hours.
Right-of-way and trackage used by the Evanston Branch and the North-South Route (today's Red Line) between Leland Avenue and the Wilmette terminal was purchased by the CTA in 1953 from the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.
Midday and Saturday Loop Express service was discontinued in the 1950's and the local shuttle service began using one-man operations with single unit cars in the 1960's.
On November 8, 1973, the third rail system was installed on the Evanston Branch between South Boulevard in Evanston and the Wilmette terminal. Prior to this, Evanston shuttle trains had be equipped with trolley poles and power collected through overhead catenary wires (similar to the Skokie Swift/Yellow Line before its conversion to third rail in 2004). The conversion to third rail allowed the CTA to retire the 4000-series railcars, which were nearly 50 years old, and put newer cars on the line.
The Purple Line once had twenty-four hour service, but it was eliminated during a service purge by the CTA on April 26, 1998.
Currently, the Purple Line is equipped with a mixed fleet of 2400-series and 2600-series railcars, as well as a lone 2600-series/3200-series hybrid. The Purple Line Shuttle usually runs two cars while the Purple Line Express runs six cars, although lengths of trains on the shuttle service can vary due to special circumstances and events.
Station listing
| Purple Line Shuttle (Evanston branch) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Station | Location | Points of interest |
| Linden Image:Accessible.png | 349 Linden Avenue, Wilmette | Bahá'í House of Worship |
| Central | 1022 Central Street, Evanston | Northwestern University Ryan Field |
| Noyes | 901 Noyes Avenue, Evanston | Northwestern University, north campus |
| Foster | 900 Foster Street, Evanston | Northwestern University, south campus |
| Davis Image:Accessible.png | 1612 Benson Street, Evanston | Downtown Evanston |
| Dempster | 1316 Sherman Avenue, Evanston | |
| Main | 836 Chicago Avenue, Evanston | |
| South Blvd | 601 South Boulevard, Evanston | |
| Howard | 1649 W. Howard Street, Chicago | Terminal during non-peak hours
Transfer station for Red and Yellow Lines |
| Purple Line Express (weekday rush hours only) | ||
| Addison Image:Accessible.png | 940 W. Addison Street, Chicago | Wrigley Field; only served by southbound Purple Line Express trains before Chicago Cubs weekday night games |
| Belmont | 945 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago | Lakeview, Briar Street Theatre
Transfer station for Red and Brown Lines |
| Wellington | 945 W. Wellington Avenue, Chicago | Illinois Masonic Medical Center |
| Diversey | 940 W. Diversey Avenue, Chicago | Lincoln Park |
| Fullerton | 943 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago | Lincoln Park, DePaul University
Transfer station for Red and Brown Lines |
| Armitage | 944 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago | Goose Island Brewery |
| Sedgwick | 1536 N. Sedgwick Street, Chicago | The Second City |
| Chicago | 300 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago | Moody Bible Institute |
| Merchandise Mart Image:Accessible.png | 350 N. Wells Street, Chicago | Chicago Merchandise Mart
Transfer station for Brown Line |
| Clark/Lake Image:Accessible.png | 100 W. Lake Street, Chicago | James R. Thompson Center, Richard J. Daley Center
Transfer station for Orange, Green, Brown, and Blue Lines |
| State/Lake | 200 N. State Street, Chicago | Chicago Theatre, Gene Siskel Film Center
Transfer station for Red Line |
| Randolph/Wabash | 151 N. Wabash Avenue, Chicago | Marshall Field's, Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park
Transfer station for Metra and South Shore Line |
| Madison/Wabash | 2 N. Wabash Avenue, Chicago | |
| Adams/Wabash | 201 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago | Grant Park, Petrillo Music Shell, Buckingham Fountain, Art Institute of Chicago |
| Library-State/Van Buren Image:Accessible.png | 26 W. Van Buren Street, Chicago | Harold Washington Library and The Auditorium Building of Roosevelt University |
| LaSalle/Van Buren | 121 W. Van Buren Street, Chicago | Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange
Transfer station for Metra trains |
| Quincy | 220 S. Wells Street, Chicago | Sears Tower, Union Station |
| Washington/Wells Image:Accessible.png | 100 S. Wells Street, Chicago | Chicago City Hall, Civic Opera House, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Ogilvie Transportation Center
Transfer station for Metra trains |
At Washington/Wells, Purple Line trains head back to Merchandise Mart, then make all stops in reverse to Linden.