Agency adds more service to the Blue and Yellow lines; and “Skokie Swift” trains to resume posted speeds
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is reminding riders the new spring rail schedules goes into effect with the start of service this Sunday, April 20. The new schedules will provide riders with reduced wait times – particularly on weekends – and overall, more frequent and reliable service.
The spring schedule reflects the CTA’s ongoing commitment to providing increased scheduled services in 2025, and is the result of ongoing, aggressive recruiting and training efforts to strengthen the rail workforce. Specific rail service improvements for the new schedules include:
- Blue Line O’Hare Branch will have two extra trips added each weekday and six extra trips added on Saturdays. Sundays will see five additional trips.
- Blue Line Forest Park Branch will have 30 extra trips added each weekday,17 extra trips added on Saturdays, and two extra trips added on Sundays.
- Yellow Line early morning weekday service will better align with the Red Line early morning weekday service. The first northbound Yellow Line train will depart Howard at 4:40 a.m., and the southbound service from Dempster-Skokie will start at 4:55 a.m.
Improved headways on the O’Hare Branch are primarily in the weekday morning and afternoon hours, and Saturday and Sunday mornings. Other headway improvements can also be seen in the morning and late evenings on weekdays and Saturday. In collaboration with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the additional service on the O’Hare Branch was specifically added to accommodate an uptick in riders switching to the Blue Line to avoid construction traffic during the Kennedy Expressway Bridge Reconstruction project.
Blue Line trains on the Forest Park Branch will be scheduled to arrive every seven and a half minutes between 6:30 p.m. and midnight on weekdays, and between 9 p.m. and midnight on Saturday. This is a significant improvement with trains currently scheduled to arrive every 15 minutes.
Also effective this Sunday
– after a rigorous safety review and implementation of associated safety measures, including system updates to conform to the latest industry standards for maintaining safe train operations along the entire corridor
– the temporary speed restriction
for the Yellow Line will be lifted and trains will resume operating at posted speeds, which can reach 55 m.p.h. on portions of the line. Trains will continue running at restricted speeds of 35 m.p.h. or less in a few areas, including the approach to Howard station, to ensure safe operations.
Rail schedules are updated twice a year, based on the terms of the CTA’s collective bargaining agreement with its union representing rail personnel.
Improving service frequency is helping to drive CTA’s ongoing ridership growth.
To help continue building on these ridership gains, in March CTA launched the first part of its new Frequent Service Network, with 20 key bus routes throughout the CTA service area now scheduled to have service every 10 minutes or better between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Additional service will be added to the remaining 12 bus routes throughout 2025, as well as launch of the Frequent Network for rail.
This spring, CTA also launched a collaboration with the Streeterville Medical Campus employers to drive ridership on CTA bus routes from downtown Metra stations to the Streeterville campus by employees. This partnership has driven a 130% growth in ridership on two peak-period bus routes. The #120 Ogilvie/Streeterville Express and #121 Union/Streeterville Express saw ridership increases of 903 rides combined in the first week since the partnership started.
As more employers look to return employees to the office, promoting transit service and investing in these partnerships will be key to driving further ridership growth on CTA.
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New CTA Rail Service Schedules Begin This Weekend
Agency adds more service to the Blue and Yellow lines; and “Skokie Swift” trains to resume posted speeds
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is reminding riders the new spring rail schedules goes into effect with the start of service this Sunday, April 20. The new schedules will provide riders with reduced wait times – particularly on weekends – and overall, more frequent and reliable service.
The spring schedule reflects the CTA’s ongoing commitment to providing increased scheduled services in 2025, and is the result of ongoing, aggressive recruiting and training efforts to strengthen the rail workforce. Specific rail service improvements for the new schedules include:
- Blue Line O’Hare Branch will have two extra trips added each weekday and six extra trips added on Saturdays. Sundays will see five additional trips.
- Blue Line Forest Park Branch will have 30 extra trips added each weekday,17 extra trips added on Saturdays, and two extra trips added on Sundays.
- Yellow Line early morning weekday service will better align with the Red Line early morning weekday service. The first northbound Yellow Line train will depart Howard at 4:40 a.m., and the southbound service from Dempster-Skokie will start at 4:55 a.m.
Improved headways on the O’Hare Branch are primarily in the weekday morning and afternoon hours, and Saturday and Sunday mornings. Other headway improvements can also be seen in the morning and late evenings on weekdays and Saturday. In collaboration with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the additional service on the O’Hare Branch was specifically added to accommodate an uptick in riders switching to the Blue Line to avoid construction traffic during the Kennedy Expressway Bridge Reconstruction project.
Blue Line trains on the Forest Park Branch will be scheduled to arrive every seven and a half minutes between 6:30 p.m. and midnight on weekdays, and between 9 p.m. and midnight on Saturday. This is a significant improvement with trains currently scheduled to arrive every 15 minutes.
Also effective this Sunday – after a rigorous safety review and implementation of associated safety measures, including system updates to conform to the latest industry standards for maintaining safe train operations along the entire corridor
– the temporary speed restriction
for the Yellow Line will be lifted and trains will resume operating at posted speeds, which can reach 55 m.p.h. on portions of the line. Trains will continue running at restricted speeds of 35 m.p.h. or less in a few areas, including the approach to Howard station, to ensure safe operations.
Rail schedules are updated twice a year, based on the terms of the CTA’s collective bargaining agreement with its union representing rail personnel.
Improving service frequency is helping to drive CTA’s ongoing ridership growth.
To help continue building on these ridership gains, in March CTA launched the first part of its new Frequent Service Network, with 20 key bus routes throughout the CTA service area now scheduled to have service every 10 minutes or better between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Additional service will be added to the remaining 12 bus routes throughout 2025, as well as launch of the Frequent Network for rail.
This spring, CTA also launched a collaboration with the Streeterville Medical Campus employers to drive ridership on CTA bus routes from downtown Metra stations to the Streeterville campus by employees. This partnership has driven a 130% growth in ridership on two peak-period bus routes. The #120 Ogilvie/Streeterville Express and #121 Union/Streeterville Express saw ridership increases of 903 rides combined in the first week since the partnership started.
As more employers look to return employees to the office, promoting transit service and investing in these partnerships will be key to driving further ridership growth on CTA.
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