Lake–Dan Ryan Line

Lake–Dan Ryan
Overview
Status	Defunct
Locale	Chicago, Oak Park and Forest Park, Illinois, United States
Termini	Harlem 95th
Stations	27
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago "L"
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority
History
Opened	September 28, 1969
Closed	February 21, 1993
Technical
Character	Elevated, Expressway median
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Minimum radius	90 feet (27 m)
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Lake–Dan Ryan Line highlighted in gray Show interactive map Legend AB Harlem AB Oak Park AB Ridgeland AB Austin AB Central AB Laramie AB Cicero AB Pulaski B Homan A0 Kedzie B California A0 Ashland B Halsted AB Clinton Ravenswood Evanston Express O'Hare/Congress/Douglas to O'Hare AB Clark/Lake AB   State/Lake Lake (Red Line) AB Randolph/Wabash AB Madison/Wabash AB Adams/Wabash Evanston Express Ravenswood B Cermak–Chinatown I-90 / I-94 AB Sox–35th A0 47th B Garfield A0 63rd AB 69th AB 79th AB 87th AB 95th This diagram: view talk edit Show BSicon diagram map

The Lake–Dan Ryan Line was a rail rapid transit route formerly operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The Lake–Dan Ryan Line existed from the opening of the Dan Ryan branch on September 28, 1969, until February 21, 1993. When created, the route united two transit corridors that until 1969 never had through rail service. This routing, which became known as the West-South route, operated from the Harlem terminal in Forest Park on the Lake Street "L" through downtown Chicago along the Union Loop "L", and then via the old South Side "L" and the new Dan Ryan Line to the 95th Street Terminal.^[1] The Lake–Dan Ryan service was planned in conjunction with the former Franklin Street Connector and Chicago Central Area Transit Project (Loop and Distributor Subways), both of which were never constructed. The section of the route between the junction with the South Side "L" at 17th and State Streets and the Cermak–Chinatown Station was originally an "interim", or temporary facility.^[2] It was planned to be torn down when the Loop Subway system was completed, but survived after the project was canceled in 1979. That section was improved in the 1980s and early 1990s and is currently being used by the Orange Line. Train transfers are possible by using the two unused tracks.

History

The Lake Street branch, Chicago's second oldest elevated rail line, began operations on November 6, 1893, from Madison and Market Streets (present-day Wacker Drive) to California Avenue and Lake Street. It was built by the Lake Street Elevated Railroad Company and originally equipped with small 0-4-4T Forney type steam locomotives hauling wooden coaches. Electrification of the road was completed between 1894 and 1896. "L" service was subsequently extended west into the western suburbs of Oak Park in 1899 and Forest Park in 1910. The Lake Street branch was also the first "L" road to operate around the Union Loop "L" on September 3, 1897, five weeks before its official inauguration. Shortly after the CTA assumed control of the city's bus and rail systems, Lake Street service was changed with the closing of several stations (Morgan, Racine, Ogden, Damen, Oakley, Sacramento, Hamlin, Kostner, Menard, and Lombard) and the old Market Street stub in 1948. The western 2.6-mile (4.2 km) section between Laramie Avenue and the Forest Park terminal, which consisted of at-grade trackage, was elevated onto the adjacent Union Pacific Railroad embankment on October 28, 1962. The grade separation improvement (one of CTA's 1958 New Horizons programs) alleviated 22 street level crossings which plagued pedestrian, auto, and rapid transit movements for nearly 70 years.

Following the successful introduction of the

Traffic on both legs of the Lake–Dan Ryan line was nearly level until the mid-1970s when passenger volumes began to shift on the West-South route and the North-South route (Howard–Englewood/Jackson Park), inclusive, with heavier traffic on the Howard and Dan Ryan branches, and lesser traffic on the Lake Street and South Side branches. In February 1993, the CTA overhauled its system and launched a color-coded route plan.^[3] In the process, the Lake–Dan Ryan route was split. The Lake Street branch running west of the Loop became a part of the Green Line, and the Dan Ryan branch running south of the Loop became a part of the Red Line.^[4]

On February 4, 1977, a train on the Lake–Dan Ryan line was involved in the worst accident in CTA history, the