The Chicago Transit Authority and Sprint today announced sponsorship support for two of the CTA’s most popular offerings: the Sprint-CTA Holiday Train and the Sprint-CTA Holiday Bus.
The annual offerings feature a six-car train and a 60-foot articulated bus, both festooned with thousands of colorful lights and extensive holiday decorations. Both feature Santa Claus—on a flatbed car on the train and on a throne on the bus—and are staffed by Santa’s helpers.
In a first-ever sponsorship arrangement, the CTA will receive $300,000 from Sprint, one of the nation’s largest mobile carriers. The sponsorship will not only cover all of the 2015 operational costs for the train and bus, it will allow CTA to add an extra day of service for the holiday train.
“We are delighted to partner with Sprint to support an iconic Chicago tradition—one enjoyed not just by CTA riders but all Chicagoans who watch the train and bus pass by,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr.
“Sprint’s number one priority is to give Chicagoans a great experience whenever and wherever they are,” said Tracy Nolan, president and general manager of Illinois and Wisconsin. “The Sprint-CTA Holiday Train and Bus is another way to give back to the community by spreading holiday cheer and putting a smile on consumer’s faces.”
The one-year sponsorship is the latest deal that provides benefit directly to CTA customers. CTA has offered free rides on New Year’s Eve for the past four years though a sponsorship with MillerCoors, and CTA’s First Day of School free rides program has provided trips for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren over the last five years, thanks to corporate sponsors.
The Sprint-CTA Holiday Train will run on all eight rail lines, starting Saturday, November 21 on the Red Line—an additional day of rides made possible through the sponsorship. The Sprint-CTA Holiday Bus will run on multiple bus routes starting December 2.
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