North Side Main Line (CTA)

North Side Main Line
Brown and Purple Line Express trains run above Franklin Street
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago "L"
Status	Operational
Locale	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Termini	Howard Merchandise Mart
Stations	21
Services	Red Line      Purple Line Express (weekday rush hours only)      Brown Line
Daily ridership	123,229 (average weekday 2012)
Operation
Opened	May 31, 1900
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority (1947–present) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947) Northwestern Elevated Railroad (1900–1924)
Character	Elevated
Rolling stock	3200-series, 5000-series
Technical
Line length	10.3 mi (16.6 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Legend Evanston branch to Linden Skokie branch to Dempster–Skokie Evanston Chicago Howard Yard 1, 4: Tracks 1 & 4 2, 3: Tracks 2 & 3 (outer) (inner) Howard Jarvis Morse Loyola Granville Thorndale Bryn Mawr Berwyn Argyle Lawrence Wilson Wilson Yard Buena Yard Buena Sheridan Grace Addison Clark Ravenswood branch to Kimball Clark Junction Belmont Wellington Diversey Wrightwood Fullerton Webster Armitage Willow Portal Willow Halsted Larrabee Sedgwick Schiller State Street Subway Division Oak Chicago Grand Merchandise Mart North Water Terminal Chicago River Loop

The North Side Main Line, commonly called the Howard Branch, is an elevated section of the Chicago "L" system. It is an active branch that is used for the Red, Purple, and Brown Line trains. As of 2012, it is the network's busiest rail branch, serving an average of 123,229 passengers each weekday.^[1] The branch is 10.3 miles (16.6 km)^[2] long with a total of 21 stations, from Howard Street in Rogers Park down to Lake Street in Chicago's Loop. The branch serves the north side of the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Since 2005, this branch has been renovated several times and is currently being reconstructed. On January 7, 2011, CTA requested a rehabilitation program for the North Side Main Line.^[3] This project is part of the Red Ahead program which started in the spring of 2012 and will go through to 2016.^[4]

Route

The North Side Main Line connects to five other branches of the Chicago 'L', including the Ravenswood branch which is served by the Brown Line, the State Street Subway which is served by the Red Line, the Skokie Branch which is served by the Yellow Line, the Evanston Branch which is served by the Purple Line, and The Loop which is served by Brown and Purple Line trains. North of Howard, the Purple Line continues to Evanston and Wilmette, and the Yellow Line runs through southern Evanston en route to its terminus in Skokie.

The North Side Main Line serves the Near North Side, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wrigleyville, Uptown, Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods of Chicago, and has stops near Wrigley Field and Loyola University.

Connection

Yellow and Purple Line trains merge onto the line at its northern terminus, the Howard Street Station. Red Line trains and the weekday rush hour Purple Line Express trains continue south on the part of the line that is known as the Howard Branch. The Ravenswood branch connects to the Main Line north of the Belmont station, where Brown Line trains merge onto the Main Line. The part of the line south of this junction is known as the Loop Branch or the Ravenswood Connector. On the portion of this branch shared by Red and Brown Line trains, Red Line trains operate in the middle two tracks and Brown and Purple Line Express trains on the outer two tracks. The Red Line passes through Wellington and Diversey stations (which is served mainly by Brown Line trains) and all trains make another stop at Fullerton. After Fullerton, the Red Line descends into a portal after Armitage (which it does not stop at) and enters the State Street Subway, while Brown and Purple Line Express trains continue elevated for the remainder of the Main Line, which ends at the Merchandise Mart and enters The Loop at a three-quartered intersection over the intersection at Wells and Lake.

History

The line began operation on May 31, 1900, between The Loop and Wilson Avenue as the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. On May 16, 1908, service on the line was extended to Central street in Evanston.^[2]

Since 2002, the main line has gone through plenty of renovations and rehabilitation projects and those projects are still going on as of today. Station renovations and track replacements have been happening ever since early 2012 and the CTA has been recently renovating all the Howard branch stations as part of the Red North Station Interim Improvements (see below).

Red North Station Interim Improvements

In November 2011, the CTA announced the Red North project as part of the Red Line Capital Investment.^[5] The cost of the project was $86 million with a $57.4 million contract granted to contractor Kiewit Infrastructure. The project included seven stations to be renovated which included Granville, Morse, Thorndale, Argyle, Berwyn, Lawrence, and Jarvis. The project started on June 1, 2012 at Granville and finished its renovation on December 13, 2012 at Jarvis. The project also caused the elimination of slow zones in which trains accelerate faster than usual.

Red & Purple Modernization Project

As part of the program, the CTA also dubbed the "Red & Purple Modernization Project."^[6] CTA recently studied four possible alternatives for the project and they are willing to provide community updates that can make improvements of those studies in late 2012 to 2013. CTA is also proposing to close down five stations on the Red and Purple lines. The five potential stations include Foster, South Boulevard, Jarvis, Lawrence, and Thorndale.^[7]

In 2011, CTA planned a scoping process and which they provided public meetings and a comment period. The purpose of the scoping process was to ask operators and attentive parties to provide guidance on the proposed alternatives, the purpose and need for the project and the proposed topics of evaluation and potential effects and mitigation measures to be considered. During the scoping process CTA introduced six alternatives as part of the project. Based on public guidance, CTA is no longer studying three of those alternatives, and has since added an additional alternative, which studies the effects of Modernization without station consolidation.

Wilson Station Reconstruction Project

As of 2012, The CTA currently plans to start reconstructing the Wilson station, which would serve as a major transfer point between Red and Purple Line trains.^[8] The station will have a rebuilt stationhouse with two island platforms to provide access between the two lines, two auxiliary entrances: one at Sunnyside Avenue and one on the north side of Wilson. Reconstruction began in October 2014 and will continue through December 2017. the station will remain open during reconstruction. The complete set of renderings and boards on display during the open house meeting are now available.^[9]

Station listing

North Side Main Line
Station	Location	Points of interest and notes
Howard	7519 N. Paulina Street	Rogers Park, Connection to Evanston Transfer station for all 'L' routes serving this station
Jarvis	1523 W. Jarvis Avenue	Rogers Park, Emil Bach House
Morse	1358 W. Morse Avenue	Rogers Park, Heartland Cafe
Loyola	1200 W. Loyola Avenue	Rogers Park, Loyola University Chicago Lakeshore Campus
Granville	1119 W. Granville Avenue	Edgewater, Berger Park
Thorndale	1118 W. Thorndale Avenue	Edgewater, Edgewater Public Library, Thorndale Beach
Bryn Mawr	1119 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue	Edgewater, Bryn Mawr Historic District, Edgewater Beach Hotel, Hollywood Beach
Berwyn	1121 W. Berwyn Avenue	Edgewater, Foster Beach
Argyle	1118 W. Argyle Street	Uptown, New Chinatown, Essanay Studios, St. Augustine College, Bachman House, Bezazian Public Library
Lawrence	1117 W. Lawrence Avenue	Uptown, Uptown Theatre, Riviera Theatre, Aragon Ballroom
Wilson	4620 N. Broadway Street	Uptown, Harry S Truman College
Buena	Buena Avenue and Kenmore Avenue	Closed August 1, 1949
Sheridan	3940 N. Sheridan Road	Graceland Cemetery, Howard Brown Health Center, Thorek Memorial Hospital Transfer to Purple Line Express trains on Cubs game days only
Grace	Grace Street and Sheffield Avenue	Closed August 1, 1949
Addison	940 W. Addison Street	Lakeview, Wrigley Field- home of the Chicago Cubs, Metro, Wrigleyville, Center on Halsted, the I.O. Theater, formerly improvolympic
Clark	Clark Street and Roscoe Street	Closed August 1, 1949
Belmont	945 W. Belmont Avenue	Lakeview, Briar Street Theater, Boystown, The Vic Theatre Transfer station for all 'L' routes serving this station
Wellington	945 W. Wellington Avenue	Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Diversey	943 W. Diversey Avenue	Lincoln Park, Elks National Memorial Headquarters Building
Wrightwood		Closed August 1, 1949
Fullerton	943 W. Fullerton Avenue	Lincoln Park, DePaul University, Children's Memorial Hospital, St. Josaphat Roman Catholic Church, Biograph Theater Transfer station for all 'L' routes serving this station
Webster		Closed August 1, 1949
Armitage	944 W. Armitage Avenue	Goose Island Brewery, Lincoln Park Zoo
Willow	Willow Street and Sheffield Avenue	Closed in May 17, 1942
Halsted		Closed August 1, 1949
Larrabee	Larrabee Street, Ogden Avenue and North Avenue	Closed August 1, 1949
Sedgwick	1536 N. Sedgwick Street	The Second City, Piper's Alley, Old Town, Chicago History Museum, North Avenue Beach, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Schiller		Closed August 1, 1949
Division		Closed August 1, 1949
Oak	Oak Street and Orleans Street	Closed July 31, 1949
Chicago	301 W. Chicago Avenue	Moody Bible Institute, Cabrini–Green, River North Gallery District
Grand	Grand Avenue and Franklin Street	Closed September 20, 1970
Kinzie	Kinzie Street and Wells Street	Closed 1921; replaced by Grand
Merchandise Mart	350 N. Wells Street	Merchandise Mart
North Water Terminal	North Water Street and Clark Street	Opened November 17, 1908, closed July 31, 1949

Image gallery

• 
  The North Side Main Line runs on the old Northwestern Elevated Railroad
• 
  The Belmont station under construction in 2007
• 
  A temporarily rerouted Red Line train leaves the North Side Main Line and enters the Loop
• 
  The Howard station complex serves as the end of the main line

See also

• Northwestern Elevated Railroad

External links

• North Side Main Line: Howard Branch at Chicago-L.org
• North Side Main Line: Loop Branch at Chicago-L.org

References