Service Notes:

Hours of Operation: Service at all times
Length of Route: 8.7 miles
Number of Stations: 11 stations
Car Types Assigned: 2200-series, 2600-series (see Car Assignment sheet for latest car assignments)

Brief Description:

The CTA's^® first newly designed rapid transit line, the Congress Line, opened in June 1958 and pioneered a new, completely divergent philosophy of station (and indeed, route) design. The Congress Line, or "West Side Subway" as it was also called in its early years, was built to replace the 50+ year old Garfield Park elevated, whose removal was required by the construction of the Congress Superhighway (later called the Eisenhower Expressway, Interstate 290). The new, replacement line followed an innovative new concept: putting a rapid transit line in the center of an expressway.

Important Dates:

• June 22, 1958 - The Congress line opens in the median of the Congress Street Expressway (now the Eisenhower Expressway), replacing the Garfield Park line, which is demolished. Trains are through-routed to the Dearborn Street Subway at LaSalle/Congress station, to Logan Square. The Douglas branch is linked with the Congress Line. Only new 6000-series trains are allowed to run on the Congress Line, the centerpiece of the CTA at the time.
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• October 2, 1994 - The CTA officially changes the last of its route names to color designations. The Congress branch officially becomes to Forest Park branch.