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Rail News Home Passenger Rail

10/19/2015



Rail News: Passenger Rail

CTA's Yellow Line set to reopen


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After being closed since May, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Yellow Line is slated to resume service Oct. 30, agency officials announced late last week.

Track maintenance, inspection, and testing will continue until that time.

In May, CTA suspended Yellow Line service following an embankment collapse resulting from construction on Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) property. The restoration of service comes after the design and reconstruction of the embankment by MWRD and its contractor, Walsh Construction, agency officials said.

The work included re-fencing the right-of-way area between the tracks and the district's property, rebuilding and stabilizing the soil embankment, reconstructing 1,200 feet of north and southbound Yellow Line tracks atop the embankment, and reconnecting signals and communication lines.

The Howard Station in northern Chicago, where the Yellow Line connects to downtown Chicago via the Purple Line Express or the Red Line
Photo: Chicago Transit Authority
Before service begins, CTA engineers will re-energize the third rail; use a rail-smoothing car to eliminate rust accumulated along the full length of Yellow Line tracks; and test signal equipment.

On Oct. 30, CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. will join Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen and MWRD officials for a ceremonial first ride at the Oakton Station in Skokie, Ill. The officials will ride vintage 2400-series rail cars to mark the return of service along the line.

Additionally, CTA will put into service its two newest 5000-series rail cars, which are the last to be delivered from an order of 714 cars, agency officials aid.

The roughly 5-mile Yellow Line runs from the Dempster-Skokie Station in Skokie to the Howard Station in northern Chicago. During the service outage, CTA ran shuttle buses along this route.