11/07/07
Rail service between the Jefferson Park and Harlem Blue Line stations will be temporarily suspended from 9 p.m. Friday, November 9 to 1 a.m. Monday, November 12 and again next weekend in order to replace deteriorated rail ties, tie plates and spikes. Bus shuttles will operate as a substitute for rail service between the two stations. Extra travel time is advisable.
Construction crews will be replacing more than 67,000 wooden rail ties with recycled plastic rail ties, as well as replacing tie plates and spikes on 111,000 feet of track. Repairs will require weekend suspensions of rail service and may also require late-night single tracks between stations. CTA will continue to provide information to customers when work will adversely impact service and provide bus shuttle service as a substitute for rail service during periods of temporary service suspension.
The work from Jefferson Park to Harlem will be completed by the end of this year and eliminate more than 25,000 feet of slow zones. The work is part of an aggressive plan to eliminate slow zones on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line and redesign the tracks to allow trains to reach speeds above 60 mph.
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