5/30/06
Unity East Junior High School Student's Essay Selected
The Chicago Transit Board today announced the winning essay of its Name the Line contest. In March, Board members selected pink as the winning color for its new rail line and today presented the author of the winning essay, Eleni Vrettos, a seventh grader at Unity East Junior High in Cicero, with a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a framed copy of her essay. Board members selected Vrettos? essay from 96 entries that nominated pink as the color for CTA's newest rail line which is set to begin service on an experimental basis on June 25.
In February, the Board approved bus and rail service enhancements for the West Side and Western suburbs. The Board invited local students from around the region to nominate a color for the new rail service included in the service enhancements and to submit an essay explaining their choice and the importance of transit service to their community.
?Thank you to all of the students for their participation in the Name the Line contest," said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Carole Brown. ?The essays were very creative and choosing just one from so many fine entries was not easy. However, after much consideration, we felt Eleni's essay stood out because it was well written, demonstrated enthusiasm for transit and an understanding of the importance of transit to the region. She shared a colorful and hopeful vision of the Pink Line's contributions to the residents of the West Side, western suburbs and Chicagoland area."
Vrettros? essay suggested the new line should be named pink because, "?Isn?t it an amazing and extraordinary color? Who does not like pink? It's so bright and lively. Doesn?t it make you jolly and exquisite? ?You know what the color reminds me of? It reminds me of the Pink Panther! What a great name! Aren?t trains supposed to be fast! And aren?t panthers fast? Plus, if it's pink people will want to ride it."
The essay also mentions the importance of public transportation, "?Public transportation is very important in today's society. Many people count on public transportation to take them where they need to go. Without it, no one could really get around."
?Congratulations to Eleni and the other students who participated in the Name the Line contest," said Chicago Transit Board Member Cynthia Panayotovich. ?Although only one essay was chosen, all of the entries exhibited imagination, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness in describing the importance of public transit to everyone in the region."
Four other students at Unity also nominated pink as the color for the new rail line ? David Calvillo, Esther Muratalla, Yesenia Patino and Jennifer Ochoa ? and met with Chairman Brown and Ms. Panayotovich. All of the students who nominated pink as the color for the new rail line will be invited to take an inaugural ride on the Pink Line later in June.
The Pink Line will begin service on June 25 and operate from the 54th/Cermak station to Polk Street station, cross the Paulina connector to Green Line elevated tracks at Ashland where it will continue to the Loop making stops at all elevated stations. A total of 22 stations will be served by the Pink Line. Customers will benefit from increased and faster service between 54th/Cermak and the Loop. Direct service to the Loop elevated also means enhanced connections to the Red, Orange, Brown and Green lines, Purple Line Express service and Metra.
The new service was approved by the Board in February and is one of several experimental service enhancements for the West Side and west suburbs based upon the results of CTA's West Side corridor study. The enhancements are designed to provide customers with increased and faster service. The Pink Line is the first new rail line since the Orange Line opened in October 1993.
# # #