Chicago
HISTORY OF THE Chicago METRO
Mister M presents
Chicago subway
Chicago Metro Museum
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid transit system in the United States in terms of total route length, at 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long as of 2014, and the third-busiest rail mass transit system in the United States, after the New York City Subway and the Washington Metro. In 2016, the "L" had 1,492 rail cars, eight different routes, and 145 train stations; average weekday ridership was 759,866.
The "L" provides 24-hour service on the Red and Blue Lines and is one of only five rapid transit systems in the United States to do so. The oldest sections of the "L" started operations in 1892, making it the second-oldest rapid transit system in the Americas, after New York City's elevated lines.
The "L" has been credited with fostering the growth of Chicago's dense city core that is one of the city's distinguishing features. It consists of eight rapid transit lines laid out in a spoke–hub distribution paradigm focusing transit towards the Loop. The "L" gained its name because large parts of the system run on elevated track. However, portions of the network are also in subway tunnels, at grade level, or in open cuts.
In a 2005 poll, Chicago Tribune readers voted it one of the "seven wonders of Chicago", behind the lakefront and Wrigley Field, but ahead of Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the Water Tower, the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry.
The first "L", the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad, began revenue service on June 6, 1892, when a steam locomotive pulling four wooden coaches, carrying more than a couple of dozen people, departed the 39th Street station and arrived at the Congress Street Terminal 14 minutes later, over tracks that are still in use by the Green Line.
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The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation's second largest public transportation system and covers the City of Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs. On an average weekday, approximately 1.6 million rides are taken on the CTA.
The CTA is an independent governmental agency created by state legislation. We began operating on October 1, 1947, after acquiring the properties of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the Chicago Surface Lines. On October 1, 1952, CTA became the sole operator of Chicago transit when it purchased the Chicago Motor Coach system.
Chicago has 2.7 million inhabitants (some 9 million in the metropolitan area) and is the third largest metropolitan area in the USA (after New York and Los Angeles), situated on the western shore of Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois.
Chicago's metro is known as the 'L' as most of its network is elevated. Some stretches of today's system date back to the end of the 19th century when Chicago followed New York's example to construct elevated rail lines. Whereas New York started early in the 20th century to put all elevated lines in Manhattan underground, Chicago maintains many of its original routes. All lines spread out from the city centre where some of them form the famous elevated Loop, now one of the city's landmarks. Two lines, the Blue Line and the Red Line cross the city centre north-south in a subway.
The entire network is 169 km long, with 18 km lying underground.
