2/27/06
The CTA will introduce new rail service to its customers this summer and is asking local students to help find a name for the rail line. Currently, CTA operates seven rail lines throughout its service area that are identified by colors and are asking students for suggestions for an eighth color to identify its newest service.
Students are asked to submit an essay of 200 words or less explaining why their nominated color is best for the new rail line. The ?Name the Line? contest is open to students currently in kindergarten through eighth grades in the Chicagoland area.
"We encourage students to nominate a color for the new rail line that reflects the personality of the West Side and West Suburbs," said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Carole Brown. ?Coming up with a name will allow the winning student to be a part of something that touches peoples lives each day and that benefits the community for years to come."
Currently the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line serves customers along Cermak Avenue, turns near Paulina and joins the Forest Park branch along the Eisenhower Expressway to travel into the Loop through the Dearborn subway.
Instead of traveling through the subway, the new service will reroute 54th/Cermak trains to the elevated tracks using the recently rehabilitated track near Paulina Street. Trains will continue to travel along Paulina via the new connector tracks and join the Green Line at Lake Street to travel into the Loop in a clockwise direction on the elevated track.
This reroute is designed to provide customers with increased and faster service. Direct service to the Loop elevated also means enhanced connections to the Orange, Brown and Green Lines, Purple Line Express service and Metra. During morning and evening rush hour commutes, customers will have the choice of the current 54th/Cermak Blue Line routing via the Dearborn subway or elevated service via the Paulina Connector.
The new rail service was proposed as a result of a study conducted by CTA that focused on service on the West Side and Western Suburbs. The Chicago Transit Board approved the new rail service, as well as changes to 14 bus routes, as a six-month experiment at its February meeting. The new service will begin in June 2006.
The Chicago Transit Board will evaluate and select the winning entry. The winning student will receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings EE Bond, receive public recognition through car cards on CTA trains and buses, and will have the opportunity to be one of the first to ride on the new line.
Contest entry forms have been e-mailed to area schools and are available online at www.transitchicago.com/nametheline or at CTA's main office at 567 W. Lake Street. Students with questions may contact Casandra Coin at nametheline@transitchicago.com or 312.681.2739. All mailed entries must be postmarked by Friday, March 17, 2006.
Este documento esta disponible en Espa?ol. Para obtener una copia en Espa?ol, envie su petici?n por correo electr?nico a Casandra Coin en nametheline@transitchicago.com o llame al 312-681-2739.
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