Blue Line (CTA)

Blue Line
A Blue Line train of 7000-series cars leaving UIC-Halsted station on the Congress branch
Overview
Status	Operating
Owner	Chicago Transit Authority
Locale	Chicago, Oak Park, Forest Park and Rosemont, Illinois
Termini	O'Hare Forest Park
Stations	33
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago "L"
Services	O'Hare–Forest Park
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority
Depot(s)	Desplaines Yard, Rosemont Yard
Rolling stock	Mixed 2600-series and 3200-series, 7000-series 8 car trains (typical, maximum)
Daily ridership	64,978 (avg. weekday 2022)
History
Opened	February 21, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-02-21) (Current operation)
Technical
Line length	26.93 mi (43.3 km)
Character	Subway, Expressway and Elevated
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Show interactive map Legend O'Hare I-190 ATS NCS to Union Station to Antioch Chicago Rosemont Rosemont Des Plaines River Rosemont Chicago I-90 Cumberland Harlem UP-NW to Harvard or McHenry Jefferson Park MD-N to Fox Lake I-94 MD-N to Union Station Montrose Irving Park | Irving Park Addison UP-NW to Ogilvie Belmont Logan Square Relocated 1970 California Western Damen Division Chicago Grand Chicago River Red to Howard Clark/Lake ■■■■■ ■ Lake Washington | ■ Washington closed 2006 Monroe | ■ Monroe Jackson | ■ Jackson ■■■■ Library Red to 95th/Dan Ryan LaSalle │ LaSalle Street RI to Joliet Chicago River Clinton I-290 UIC–Halsted Racine Service now provided by Pink Line Pink to the Loop Polk BNSF to Union Station 18th Damen Western California BNSF to Aurora Kedzie Central Park Pulaski Kostner Cicero 50th closed 1978 Laramie closed 2003 54th/Cermak Illinois Medical District Western California closed 1973 Kedzie–Homan Pulaski Kostner closed 1973 Cicero Central closed 1973 Chicago Oak Park Austin Oak Park Oak Park Forest Park Harlem Forest Park   Direct connection outside of paid area This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

The Blue Line is a 26.93-mile-long (43.34 km) Chicago "L" line which extends through The Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and across the West Side to its southwest end at Forest Park, with a total of 33 stations (11 on the Forest Park branch, 9 in the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and 13 on the O'Hare branch). At about 27 miles, it is the longest line on the Chicago "L" system and second busiest, and one of the longest local subway/elevated lines in the world. It has an average of 64,978 passengers boarding each weekday in 2022.^[1]

Chicago's Blue Line and Red Line offer 24-hour service, every day, year-round. This makes Chicago, New York City, and Copenhagen the only three cities in the world to offer local nonstop rail service throughout their city limits 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Blue Line is one of two lines in Chicago with more than one station having the same name, with the Green Line being the other. (The Blue Line has two stations at Harlem Avenue: one in the Kennedy Expressway on the Northwest side and one on the Eisenhower Expressway in Forest Park, Illinois. It also has two stations on Western Avenue: one on the segment between downtown and O’Hare, and one immediately west of downtown.) The Blue Line also has two in-system transfers (both in the Loop), and does not share tracks with any other 'L' line.

Before the adoption of color-coded names, the Blue Line was referred to as the West-Northwest Route, or more commonly, the O'Hare-Congress-Douglas route for its three branches. The Congress and Douglas branches were renamed for their terminals, Forest Park and 54th/Cermak, when the current color naming system was adopted in 1993. Blue Line service on the Douglas segment was replaced in April 2008 by the Pink Line.^[2]

The Blue Line is one of five 'L' lines that run into Chicago suburbs, with the others being the Green, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines. The Blue Line runs in three suburbs: Rosemont, Oak Park, and Forest Park.