Run numbers on CTA rapid transit trains have existed for several decades. While many conductors and motorman used to announce them during their runs in the days of manual PA announcements, their presence has become more ubiquitous to riders since the advent of the automated announcement system, which announces them as part of the programmed verbiage at periodic times along each route. (Click here to hear an example from the Orange Line.) But how do run numbers work? What do the numbers mean? And what is their connection to the routes, trips and operators? Read on!

What is a Run Number?

CTA run numbers actually have less to do with the train itself (as in a particular consist of equipment) than with its operator. Unlike on railroads, the run number is not the "train number", it represents a collection of trips an operator will make during his day's work.

Car 3247 leads Orange Line Run 715 stopping at Library-State/Van Buren on April 3, 1998 (above), with a close-up of the run number box in the front, right window (below). For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Sean Gash)

The run numbers are assigned in the train schedules -- sometimes called "paddles" -- by the CTA Schedules Department. The schedules have a very precise breakdown of the times and durations runs will take place, including detailed accounts of "platform time" (time from the first departure to when another operator is to take over the equipment, or it is to be laid up), "allowances" (tasks other than train operation, such as reporting time, etc.), "overtime premium" (time-and-a-half pay for runs over 8 hours), and more. It is from this that an operator's pay is determined.

Every four months, there is a "rail pick". This is when operators can bid on a new set of runs for that pick quarter. Operators choose in order of seniority (duration of CTA employment, not age), so a more senior operator gets to choose "easier" runs -- sometimes casually referred to as "pieces of work" -- such as those in the midday when there are fewer passengers or on a low-stress route like the Yellow Line or mostly morning work (many employees prefer morning runs because they finish earlier, though it requires a very early reporting time). New hires will likely be stuck with less desirable runs, such as an "owl" (middle of the night) run on the Red Line. An operator can pick different runs on different days, or can work the same run on multiple days (depending on what's already been chosen by more senior operators). If one had enough seniority, they could get all weekday runs and have the weekend off, though one must accumulate a lot of seniority in order to do so.

How Are Run Numbers Assigned?

Run numbers are three digits based on the terminal a run originated from. It is displayed in a run number box, a small black box in a front window of a train with three little roller curtains on which each of the three numbers is displayed (see above right photo). The "L", in pre-CTA years, apparently had a system of train numbers (possibly like those used on railroads), though how this system worked is unclear. The concept of run numbers, as described above, was developed by the Chicago Surface Lines and imported to the rapid transit from the Surface Division by the CTA .

Run numbers are assigned in blocks of 100 to different terminals. The assignment of numbers has changed quite a bit over the years. When first applied to the rapid transit, it was like so:

Run #..	West Section	North-South Section
000s	Lake Street (Hamlin)	N-S, Jackson Park (61st)
100s	Logan Square	N-S, Englewood (Loomis)
200s	Garfield Park (Laramie)	Stock Yards & Kenwood
300s	Douglas Park (54th)	N-S, Howard
400s	-	Ravenswood (Kimball)
500s	-	Evanston (Howard)

This, of course, means that there were duplicate run numbers on the West and North-South sections. Also, note that all Evanston runs are dispatched from Howard terminal. Although some trips did begin at Linden, all runs were considered to begin at Howard. This situation continues today.

This scheme lasted until the mid-1960s, by which time enough had changed that it was necessary to revise the run number system. The next scheme was devised by LeRoy Dutton, the superintendent of the CTA's Schedule-Traffic Department. He devised a scheme by which the new numbers could be added to or applied over the old ones as easily as possible. First, the numbers available was expanded beyond the 500s. The Jackson Park runs, which were dispatched from 61st Yard, simply had a "6" added to their number, making them the 600s. The Englewood runs, dispatched from Loomis Yard, became the 700s, which meant that a little horizontal bar could simply be added to the "1" in their old "100s" run numbers. For North-South Route trains dispatched from Howard, the 300s became 800s, allowing the left side of the "3s" to simply be closed to create the loops of the "8s". Since the Stock Yards and Kenwood branches had been discontinued by this point, there were no longer duplications in the 200s, just as there had been none in the 400s or 500s. After the Skokie Swift began operation in 1964, they were assigned some of Evanston's 500-series numbers. The same year, the main terminal, yard, and crew reporting location on the Lake Street Line was moved from Hamlin to Harlem. In 1969, with the opening of the Dan Ryan Line, trains dispatched from 95th Terminal were given 900-series numbers and Englewood reporting moved from Loomis to the new Ashland Terminal.

So, the run numbers in the period late 1960s to early 1990s was as follows:

Run #..	Route/Terminal
000s	West-South, Lake Street (Harlem)
100s	West-Northwest, Milwaukee (Logan Square, later Jefferson Park)
200s	West-Northwest, Congress (Desplaines)
300s	West-Northwest, Douglas (54th)
400s	Ravenswood (Kimball)
500s	Evanston (Howard); Skokie Swift (Howard)
600s	North-South, Jackson Park (61st)
700s	North-South, Englewood (Loomis, later Ashland)
800s	North-South, Howard
900s	West-South, Dan Ryan (95th)

By the early 1990s, more changes were needed. The Midway (Orange) Line was set to open in 1993, but all numbers through the 900-series were taken. CTA didn't want to go into four-digit run numbers, so it was decided to do some consolidation. The Midway Line was given the 700s, and trains from Jackson Park and Englewood were consolidated into the 600s. Trains dispatched from 61st were given the numbers 601-650, while Ashland runs were numbered 651-699. This was actually fairly short-lived, as the Green Line (of which the Jackson Park and Englewood were now a part) was closed in 1994 and when they reopened in 1996 trains were no longer dispatched from 61st. With 61st Yard now only for nonrevenue equipment, all South Side Green Line runs, still numbered in the 600s, are dispatched from Ashland. Those runs whose first in-service trip begins at Cottage Grove-East 63rd (on the former Jackson Park branch) simply "run lite" (with no passengers) from Ashland to East 63rd. At the same time, Yellow Line (Skokie Swift) numbers were revised slightly. Although they were still numbered in the 500s, they were given the last ten digits, numbered in the 590s to avoid all conflict with Evanston runs (whose number of runs in a day never reaches that high).

Thus was created the run number system that the CTA uses today:

The numbers are assigned in a numerical order, but not in the way one might assume. They are not dispatched in the morning in ascending numerical order (i.e. the first train dispatched from Howard being Run 801, the next being Run 802, etc.). The numbers actually correspond to when the run will end, not when it will begin. The lowest numbered run is the one that will finish the day first. This is done to help the terminal clerk assign extra personnel in accordance to rules laid out in the CTA's collective bargaining agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 308 (the train operators' union).

Run numbers are never repeated in a single day, and typically mean the same thing on all weekdays. However, a run number that indicates a certain collection of trips on a weekday may be assigned to a totally different schedule on a Saturday and yet another on Sundays/holidays.

Information for this page was supplied, in part, by First & Fastest and Sean Gash.