Chicago CTA Blue Line

I just reutrned from a trip to Chicago. I rode the CTA Blue Line from the Airport (actually Rosement) into the city several times. I was shocked at the poor quailty of the ride and the slow speed of this train. Does anyone know why this is? Funding?

I was at the Stephens Center last week with frequent trips on the Blue Line from Rosemont/Cumberland to/from Clinton (CUS) plus entertainment in the city. Between the poster about the LSL to this about the Blue Line, they echo my trip entirely.

That Blue Line is miserable. Going inbound I was just a stop or two from O'Hare and some of the trains were already packed. The city was worse -- if I let one train go because it was too crowded, the platform would become a sea of humanity just 30 seconds later with sometimes a good 20 minutes for the next overcrowded rush hour train. I saw shoving matches when the door opened, complete with shouting, threats and namecalling. Lots of stopping between stations, plus it is just plain slow. And few got off the overcrowded trains until either the loop or the park/rides. Throw in drunken baseball fans trying to start fights and an annoying PA system with never-ending messages. And one time I swiped my card only to get turned back by the turnstyle, so I had to get a clerk to credit my card.

I offered my condolences to one commuter because I don't know how anyone could go through that daily. :angry:

OTOH, the brown and red lines were a pleasant experience.

Rode the Blue Line from the Loop (underground) to O'Hare on May 14, a Monday. Good thing I always build in a time buffer when traveling, or never woulda made it to my plane. Expected a quick trip, but it took almost 2 hours. I wasn't worried - the buffer - but could see that several other passengers were seriously agitated at the prospect of missing their planes. Screaming on their cell phones - like that would help.

Don't know what happened to those other people, but when the train finally got to O'Hare I would wager that a number of them set track records in the category of Airport Luggage Sprint. Running like hell. I let them all go first. I was in no hurry - the time buffer. Security was a breeze, and I had time grab a meal before boarding.

Folks, if you're gonna ride the Blue Line, particularly TO O'Hare, pad your itinerary. Better to sit around the airport for awhile than miss your flight.

The CTA was planned for growth, but that planning occurred in the 1920's - it's simply outgrown its natural capacity, and there's really no where for it to grow...being so (over)used, it's got to be nearly impossible to keep it fully and properly maintained...

TransAtlantic said:

The CTA was planned for growth, but that planning occurred in the 1920's - it's simply outgrown its natural capacity, and there's really no where for it to grow...being so (over)used, it's got to be nearly impossible to keep it fully and properly maintained...

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I wonder if there is some corruption in the CTA that keeps maintenance dollars away from maintenance and into something less constructive.

National Limited said:

TransAtlantic said:

The CTA was planned for growth, but that planning occurred in the 1920's - it's simply outgrown its natural capacity, and there's really no where for it to grow...being so (over)used, it's got to be nearly impossible to keep it fully and properly maintained...

Click to expand...

I wonder if there is some corruption in the CTA that keeps maintenance dollars away from maintenance and into something less constructive.

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That "corruption" is called underfunding which, for the last decade or so, has required capital funding to be diverted to cover operating costs in order to preserve ever-deteriorating service (see also: Amtrak long-distance trains, mid 1990s-early 2000s).

The system is truly falling apart, and the different service boards of the RTA (CTA, Metra, and Pace) have repeatedly told the state that several billion dollars will be needed over the next few years (a few hundred million per year) to, essentially, bring the systems into a state of good repair. How did the state respond? By telling everyone that transit funding was "not on the radar screen" for this year, despite threats of massive service cuts and fare hikes by the end of this year if the boards are not able to close budget gaps (which would be up to $110 million for the year at CTA alone).

So now the state legislature has missed their target deadline for getting a budget passed (May 31), and those poor babies have to work overtime (but not too hard, though, because they've been taking four-day weekends) and are finally realizing that, maybe, transit should be on their radar screen. The most likely resolution will be a budget patch for this year, to prevent the service cuts, but no restructuring of the funding so that we can prevent a repeat of this drama in another couple of years.

While you can argue that some ventures may be foolish (Airport Express, anyone?), even taking that stuff out wouldn't come close to covering the overall needs of the system.

There ought to be a way to require the state law makers to ride the blue line as punishment for their underfunding. It would fix the problem quickly. The congested traffic on the highway was going faster than we were! Is the rest of the CTA or METRA this bad?

A better question may be with the RTA board. AFAIK each county pays gas tax into the RTA fund. Each county in the system gets a share. I'm not sure what the breakdown between Metra/Pace/CTA is. I'm not sure if the tax adjusts for inflation. Metra may be in better shape to have funds for new services. However, they may still need billions to rebuild the ROW that the Railroads built in the 1920's. It may take billions more to raise the track to permit modern height trucks on some of the city streets. I bet it would be tough in a high gas tax world to raise the gas tax more. AFAIK the state STILL has a Sales Tax on top of all the other Taxes. That is one reason for city gas prices to be 50 cents higher than the suburban area.

I've heard of a fight for years where CTA dosen't get a share of money for transfer passsengers? Some of this may be due to the never built downtown trolley/bus system.

Glenn W said:

A better question may be with the RTA board. AFAIK each county pays gas tax into the RTA fund. Each county in the system gets a share. I'm not sure what the breakdown between Metra/Pace/CTA is. I'm not sure if the tax adjusts for inflation. Metra may be in better shape to have funds for new services. However, they may still need billions to rebuild the ROW that the Railroads built in the 1920's. It may take billions more to raise the track to permit modern height trucks on some of the city streets. I bet it would be tough in a high gas tax world to raise the gas tax more. AFAIK the state STILL has a Sales Tax on top of all the other Taxes. That is one reason for city gas prices to be 50 cents higher than the suburban area.
I've heard of a fight for years where CTA dosen't get a share of money for transfer passsengers? Some of this may be due to the never built downtown trolley/bus system.

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Would this trolley/bus system have provided mass transit access to, say, Union Station? I was suprised there wasn't public transportation easily accessable to US. For that matter, it didn't seem that LaSalle station had any easy access to mass transit either. Did there use to be better connections between these terminals and public transit?

National Limited said:

Would this trolley/bus system have provided mass transit access to, say, Union Station? I was suprised there wasn't public transportation easily accessable to US. For that matter, it didn't seem that LaSalle station had any easy access to mass transit either. Did there use to be better connections between these terminals and public transit?

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There are plenty of buses that serve Union Station, though the last rapid transit rail line to serve Union Station was something like 50 years ago.

The LaSalle Street Station is served by the LaSalle/Van Buren loop station.

". . . though the last rapid transit rail line to serve Union Station was something like 50 years ago.

The LaSalle Street Station is served by the LaSalle/Van Buren loop station."

Was this service a now abandoned subway line?

I didn't take the loop while I was in the city--only the subway--so I guess my comment on LaSalle was based on the blue line stop near LaSalle.

By the way, did the New York Central use LaSalle as their Chicago terminal?

The rail stop at Union Station was an elevated line that was replaced by the subway on what is now the Blue Line.

Here's a link to a 1957 CTA map that shows the stop at Canal, branching off of the loop. You can also see the subways on the map, with the Dearborn subway (now the Blue Line) ending at LaSalle, just south of the loop.

I live in Chicago, and believe that we have a third world transit system. It is disgusting. No place has extra money laying around. Yet California has developed transit systmes in several cities in the last 20 years. In the last 20 years Mayor Daley has sat there shruging his shoulders saying there is no money. New York has new cars on several routes, and they have improved their system. You can use credit and debit cards to buy fare cards. Not so in Chicago.

Illinois did better in adding Amtrak service last fall, but the midwest is going to be a non factor if the politicians dont stop fooling around.

Well, I was able to purchase a visitor pass from a machine with a credit card but that may just be for visitor passes. Overall it seemed, however, that the entire system was in sad shape.

National Limited said:

By the way, did the New York Central use LaSalle as their Chicago terminal?

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They did, right up to the Penn Central merger. The Pennsylvania Railroad used Union Station, which is probably why the Central didn't .

rmadisonwi said:

National Limited said:

Would this trolley/bus system have provided mass transit access to, say, Union Station? I was suprised there wasn't public transportation easily accessable to US. For that matter, it didn't seem that LaSalle station had any easy access to mass transit either. Did there use to be better connections between these terminals and public transit?

Click to expand...

There are plenty of buses that serve Union Station, though the last rapid transit rail line to serve Union Station was something like 50 years ago.

The LaSalle Street Station is served by the LaSalle/Van Buren loop station.

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If you look at a modern map, the Downtown Chicago Area outgrew the Loop & the Commuter Train Stations 20years ago. State Street is a ghost of it's former self. There's a lot of new downtown skyscrapers, not to mention all the development of North Michigan Avenue & Navy Pier, the new Soldier's Field, Convention Center, etc.

The Downtown Distributor could have been a trolley/rapid transit system to tie all this up together. some sort of trolley/light rail/subway could replace all those busses. THere was a freight ROW that the SunTimes used to get newsprint. At one time, it may have extended to Navy Pier. There may be a similar ROW avaiable from Grant Park along the IC electric lines to McCormick Place. IIRC the downtown area has paid a special tax in order for some sort of system to be built. It seems to have died from excessive planning & never building anything.

It appears to me the Mayor has spent too much on his park & too little on the CTA. THe last new construction was with the Orange Line that almost but never made it to Ford City. since then, the CTA has spent money on rebuilding the ancient Green, Blue, & other lines. Someday the Red line will need to be rebuilt. The State is broke & the county is bankrupt. They already sold off the Skyway.

In the "old days", it always was a problem to get from one terminal to another. Rarely were services coordinated so you could transfer directly from a ATSF to NYC train. I suppose you could get lucky if your MILW/CB&Q train met your PRR train. Only in the Amtrak era can passengers get from East or South trains to the West lines. It still is a struggle for IC trains to find their way to CUS. (Funny, but even in 2007 I find it easier to refer to trains operating their 1950's pre-merger lines). In the "old days", it was often said that a pig had an easier time getting from one side of the city to the other. It remains a dream to build some sort of U shaped system that could have linked Chicago's train stations together.

Glenn W said:

In the "old days", it always was a problem to get from one terminal to another. Rarely were services coordinated so you could transfer directly from a ATSF to NYC train. I suppose you could get lucky if your MILW/CB&Q train met your PRR train. Only in the Amtrak era can passengers get from East or South trains to the West lines. It still is a struggle for IC trains to find their way to CUS. (Funny, but even in 2007 I find it easier to refer to trains operating their 1950's pre-merger lines). In the "old days", it was often said that a pig had an easier time getting from one side of the city to the other. It remains a dream to build some sort of U shaped system that could have linked Chicago's train stations together.

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There was a "limousine/taxi" transfer service for passengers between the various Chicago stations, with the blessings of the railroads.

It was called the Parmelee Transfer Company. Founded in 1853, and at some point became the "official" transfer service between Chicago stations. Interline tickets included Parmelee coupons if a transfer of stations was required. I'm not sure whether Parmelee carried checked baggage between stations, or if the railroads used their own vehicles. I believe Parmelee transfer service ceased to be provided with through tickets some time in the 1950's. Parmelee is still in business under the name Continental Airport Express and the Parmelee family still appears to be associated with it.

Checker apparently controlled Parmelee at one point but relations seem to have been complicated and changed a lot, involving Yellow Cab (which was related to Hertz).

Checker made special vehicles for the Parmalee service, larger than their cabs, with greater luggage capacity.

For those interested, the CTA has launched a program to rebuild sections of the Blue Line and eliminate the slow zones that are causing delays on the line. The first section is to rebuild the subway under Milwaukee Avenue between Grand and Division (tie replacement). That is currently underway, and should be completed in August or September.

The next section will be the part along the expressway between O'Hare and the Kimball subway. That will start when the first part is completed, and will contine through some time mid to late next year. Funds are being redirected from other projects to cover this cost.

The slow zones are back (after having been supposedly fixed??) but I still ride because it's still a good value. Take a good book with you....

I like Chicago but I doubt I could deal with using the subway everyday. Easy enough to use to amble around as a tourist with no fixed time agenda, but I could imagine it would drive you crazy if you had to use it to get to work each day. Used it once to get to O'Hare (another personal dislike of mine!) and never again, far too slow and overcrowded and a good chance of missing your plane.

Last time I booked a shuttle van from the hotel.

Another point is the steelwork on the loop bit is incredibly rusty in places, makes you wonder how long it is before it's not elevated any more.......