Service Notes:

Hours of Operation: Service at all times
Length of Route: 14.38 miles
....Milwaukee Elevated: 2.2 miles
....Milwaukee-Kimball Subway: 1.2 miles
....Kennedy-O'Hare Extension: 10.98 miles
Number of Stations: 13 stations
Car Types Assigned: 2200-series, 2600-series (see Car Assignment sheet for latest car assignments)

Brief Description:

The O'Hare branch of the Blue Line is made of three sections of three different vintages: the Milwaukee Elevated, Milwaukee-Kimball Subway and Kennedy Extension, and O'Hare Extension.

Milwaukee Elevated

What is now the Milwaukee Elevated -- the portion of the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line between Evergreen Portal south of Damen station and the Logan Square Portal north of California station -- actually represents a remnant of the Metropolitan Elevated's Northwest branch. The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company -- more commonly referred to as 'the Met' -- built the Milwaukee Elevated in 1895 as part of its vast network of lines on the West and Northwest Sides. Northwest Side trains originally took a more circuitous route to and from downtown, predating the construction of the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway. Heading outbound from the Loop, trains traversed the Met's four-track main line paralleling Van Buren Street to Marshfield Junction, where the four-track line split into three two-track branches. The Northwest branch headed due north parallel to Paulina Avenue to Milwaukee Avenue near around Evergreen Street, then turned northwest paralleling Milwaukee Avenue. The Northwest service continued northwest along Milwaukee to a terminal at Logan Square, near Kedzie and Logan Boulevard. Just beyond Robey (Damen) station, the branch split again, with Humboldt park service turning west along North Avenue to Lawndale. The portion of the Northwest branch along Milwaukee between Evergreen and Logan Square -- just over half of the original route's length -- is now what remains as the Milwaukee Elevated.

Kennedy Extension

The first postwar expansion of the "L" system (that was not a line started before the war, a replacement for an existing line, or the resumption of a previous service) came in the form of two lines built in the medians of expressways, a form first pioneered in Chicago on the Congress Line. The Kennedy project was an extension of the Milwaukee Line on the Northwest Side. This project, along the entirely new Dan Ryan Line on the city's South Side and a short 0.25 mile extension of the Englewood branch from Loomis to Ashland/63rd, were funded in part by a $195 million general public works bond issue passed by the general assembly in 1966. The cost of the Kennedy and Dan Ryan projects amounted to $113 million before their completion.

The Kennedy Line, constructed between 1967 and 1970, was the second of the of the two Kennedy and Dan Ryan projects to open. The two lines were under design and construction together, and although the Kennedy's end-to-end length is shorter than that of the Dan Ryan, it included more complicated and time-consuming subway construction. The Kennedy Line extends 5.2 miles northwest of the Milwaukee Elevated's former terminal at Logan Square. The extension actually branches off the Milwaukee Elevated at Sacramento Avenue, south of the Logan Square terminal (which was abandoned as a result) and enters a new subway underneath Milwaukee Avenue. The subway turns north under Kimball Avenue (3400W) and crosses under the eastbound lanes of the John F. Kennedy Expressway at School Street (3300N). Here, the line ascends to the surface and continues northwest another four miles in the median of the Kennedy Expressway to the terminal at Jefferson Park (5400N).

O'Hare Extension

The success (in terms of increased ridership, at least) of the Kennedy Extension of the old Milwaukee "L" line to Jefferson Park convinced the CTA that it was worth going through with their plan to continue the line to O'Hare International Airport on the far Northwest Side of the city. The extension was undertaken in the early 1980s and opened as far as River Road (now Rosemont station) on February 27, 1983 and to its final terminus at O'Hare on September 3, 1984.

The most noticeable change between the Kennedy Extension and the O'Hare Extension are in the design of the station facilities. Whereas all three median stations on the Kennedy project were designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, were of the same basic design, and were rather basic and spartan (though considered very "modern" at the time), the four O'Hare Extension stations -- Harlem, Cumberland, River Road, and O'Hare -- were designed by a different architectural firm with an eye toward originality and spaciousness. The four stations are also spaced farther apart -- about two miles -- and all were equipped with elevators and escalators. Adjacent to the River Road station a new yard and shop were built for the line to replace the facility north of Jefferson Park, which had to be demolished so the line could be extended. The 12-car Rosemont inspection shop and 260-car yard were built in a previously unused area between the ramps of the I-90/I-294/I-190 interchange. West of Rosemont Yard, the route continues in the median of the Kennedy Expressway (now Interstate 190 to O'Hare) to a short subway, which leads into the O'Hare terminal station, a three-track (the center track is for holding a reserve train) two-platform column-free facility built beneath a parking garage.

The O'Hare Line was the CTA first extension into completely new territory in more than half a century. Results were encouraging, as new office parks and retail outlets sprung up along the new rapid transit line in the Interstate 90 corridor. And those who thought only airport workers would ride the "L" to O'Hare were quickly proved wrong. Airline passengers took to the convenience, speed, and dependability of direct rapid transit service. So did workers in the corridor. In the next decade, the wisdom of this extension would be repeated at Chicago's other airport, Midway.

Important Dates:

• April 7, 1892 - The Met is given a 50-year franchise to operate a four-track main line and four two-track branch lines between downtown and Chicago's West Side.
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• Mid-October 1894 - Work on the Northwest branch is completed as far as Robey Street (Damen Avenue).
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• April 17, 1895 - An inspection trip for company officials, consisting of an excursion train of one motor car and four trailers, starts at Canal Street and covers the main line, the Garfield Park branch, and the Northwest branch as far as Robey Street.
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• May 6, 1895 - Service begins between Canal Street and Robey Street on the Northwest branch.
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• May 17, 1895 - Service is extended to the Met's first downtown terminal at Franklin Street, after completion of bridge over Chicago River.
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• May 25, 1895 - The Northwest branch completed northwest to Logan Square and enters service.
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• September 2, 1901 - A fire consumes the entire Logan Square shop building, as well as the station and part of the yard. A more substantial shop building is soon erected and remains in use until 1970.
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• 1928 - The Logan Square terminal is rebuilt with a larger ground-level station facility. The terra cotta beaux-arts station is similar to a number of other new stations constructed around the system designed by Arthur Gerber.
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• September 17, 1950 - The first of the new all-metal PCC 6000-series transit cars are delivered to the CTA. Built by the St. Louis Car Company, the number of these type of cars would eventually reach 770 (#1-50 and #6001-6720), dominating the CTA's fleet for decades. The first batch is placed into service on the Logan Square route.
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• February 25, 1951 - The Dearborn Street Subway opens, connecting the Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches with downtown, terminating at LaSalle/Congress. Only 6000-series cars are in service there. The connector between the Milwaukee Line and Marshfield junction is closed (as are the Division, Chicago, Grand, Lake Street Transfer and Madison stations on it), though the section between the Lake Street "L" and Marshfield is retained for rolling stock moving purposes.
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• February 1, 1970 - Service is extended northwest of Logan Square to Jefferson Park, using the median strip of the Kennedy Expressway. The old Logan Square terminal and yard are demolished to make way for the subway connector between Logan Square and the Kennedy Expressway. Meager yard facilities are provided at Jefferson Park.
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• February 27, 1983 - The first segment of the O'Hare extension opens from Jefferson Park to River Road (now Rosemont), using the Kennedy Expressway median strip. A new yard is provided at Rosemont.
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• September 3, 1984 - The final segment of the O'Hare extension opens from River Road to O'Hare.
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• April 28, 1995 - Skip stop service, running rush hours only on the Red (Howard) and Blue (O'Hare) Lines, is suspended.