10/24/01
Additional weekend service will begin on the Orange Line Saturday, October 27, and on the Brown Line Sunday, October 28, reflecting growing ridership on both lines.
Orange Line trains will run every 10 minutes instead of every 15 minutes throughout the day and until mid-evening Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, providing levels of service to the Loop comparable to the Green Line. Later weekend service on the Orange Line will continue to operate every 15 minutes until the last train arrives on the Loop around 11:45 p.m.
Brown Line trains that operate as a shuttle early Sunday mornings between Kimball and Belmont will run every 15 minutes instead of every 20 minutes, starting from Kimball at about 5 a.m., and from Belmont at 5:25 a.m. Late Sunday night shuttle service will also operate more frequently, with the last train leaving Belmont at 12:57 a.m.
The first Brown Line train to the Loop on Sundays will continue to leave Kimball at 6:46 a.m., as it has in the past. However, trains will run more often, or about 12 minutes apart, instead of every 15 to 20 minutes, until 8 a.m., when service will start operating every 10 minutes.
Brown Line trains will continue operating from Kimball 10 minutes apart on Sundays/holidays until 7:20 p.m., or about two hours later than the current 10-minute schedule is maintained. After that, trains will operate 15 minutes apart, instead of every 20 minutes, until the last train leaves Adams/Wabash around 12:13 a.m.
Annual Brown Line ridership increased by 24 percent from 1997 through 2000, when it reached 12.9 million. During the same period, the Orange Line experienced a ridership gain of 20 percent, reaching 8.1 million in 2000.
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