Central (5600W/720S)
Central Avenue and the Eisenhower Expressway, Austin

Service Notes:

West-Northwest Route: Congress

Quick Facts:

Address: 720 S. Central Avenue (?)
Established: March 27,1961
Original Line: West-Northwest Route, Congress branch
Previous Names: n/a

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Abandoned

History:

Central is one of the only Congress branch stations that does not correspond to the design of a station house (or set of station houses) on a bridge with long ramps down to an island platform. Built along side the Eisenhower Expressway where the rapid transit swings southwest to move from in the highway median to a position south of the highway and adjacent to the B&O railroad, Central featured entrances on either side of the street within the embankment walls of the viaduct on which the "L" line crossed over Central Avenue. The stairs led up to a platform-level fare control area at the east end of the island platform. Central's island platform and canopy are otherwise standard designs for the Congress Line.

Central closed Sunday September 2, 1973, in the same service revision that closed California and Kostner (also on the Congress Line), Dorchester on the Jackson Park branch, State/Van Buren in the Loop, State on the Englewood branch, and Isabella on the Evanston Line.

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tour03@Central02.jpg (175k) Nearly ready to depart with the last few participants on the 5th Annual Historic "L" Station Tour boarding, the charter train of 2200-series cars is about to depart Central station on the Congress Line, which has not seen passenger traffic since 1973 and is little changed from that time, on October 26, 2003. (Photo by Graham Garfield)