Brown Line (Chicago Transit Authority)

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The Brown Line (Ravenswood Service) of the Chicago Transit Authority Chicago 'L' rapid transit system, is a 11.4 mile route with 19 stations between Albany Park on the north and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is one of CTA's busiest rail lines, serving more than 61,000 passengers each weekday. The Brown Line runs completely within the city limits of Chicago, Illinois.

The Brown Line operates to the Loop weekdays and Saturdays from about 5am to 12:30am and on Sundays from 7am to midnight. The Brown Line Shuttle, service limited to stops north of Belmont, runs from about 4am to 5am and about 12:30am to 2:30 am on weekdays and Saturdays, and about 5am to 6am and about midnight to 1am on Sundays. At Belmont, it is possible to transfer to the 24-hour Red Line to continue downtown, if necessary.

Before CTA lines were color-coded in 1993, the Brown Line was known as the Ravenswood Line; specifically, the series of stations from Belmont to Kimball were called the Ravenswood branch. Accordingly, the shuttle service was called the Ravenswood Shuttle. Some Chicagoans still refer to the line by those names.

The Brown Line stops at the world's second largest commercial building, the Merchandise Mart. The Quincy stop is near the Sears Tower.

Contents

1 Operation
2 History
3 Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project
4 Station listing
5 See also
6 External links

Operation

The Brown Line starts out in northwest Chicago, at the Kimball and Lawrence Avenue terminal (3400 W. - 4800 N.), where there is a storage yard and servicing shop for the trains to the east of the passenger station. From there, trains operate over street level tracks between Leland and Eastwood Avenues to Rockwell Avenue, then ramp up to the elevated structure for the rest of the trip.

After the Damen station, the route turns south to parallel Metra's Union Pacific North railroad line about one-half block to the west to a point south of the Addison station. Here the route turns east again towards Sheffield Avenue where it once again turns south to join the four-track North Side elevated line in Lakeview. From just north of Belmont station southward to Armitage, Brown Line and Red Line trains operate side-by-side, with Purple Line Express trains sharing the tracks during weekday rush periods. Brown and Purple Line trains run on the outermost tracks serving five stops, while Red Line trains run on the innermost tracks making only two stops.

South of the Armitage station, Brown and Purple Line trains continue southward towards the Chicago Loop on elevated track which zigzags its way through the neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Near North Side before joining the Loop Elevated tracks at Lake Street. Operating counterclockwise, Brown Line trains extends around the Loop over the outer track via Wells-Van Buren-Wabash-Lake serving all Loop stations, before the return trip back north to the Albany Park terminal.

Currently, the Brown Line's rolling stock is comprised mostly of Morrison-Knudsen 3200-series railcars, purchased from 1992 to 1994 and the newest on the CTA system. It is also equipped with a handful of older 2600-series cars.

Although ridership would certainly warrant eight-car trains on the Brown Line during rush periods, most stations on the line cannot berth longer than six-car trains. Six cars are standard on the Brown Line during weekday rush hours as well as midday. Early morning, late evening, and weekend service is generally provided by four-car trains, although this may vary due to special city events.

History

The Ravenswood branch was opened on May 18, 1907 by the former Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company between the Loop and Western and Leland Avenues in Lincoln Square. The route was completed to the Kimball/Lawrence terminal on December 14, 1907. The Ravenswood Line remains basically unchanged since its early days, aside from a few cosmetic upgrades to its stations and elevated structures. The Kimball/Lawrence terminal was completely remodeled and a new bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River was completed in the 1970s. The Western and Merchandise Mart stations were rebuilt in the 1980s. These two stations, along with the Kimball/Lawrence terminal, currently comprise the only ADA accessible stations on the Brown Line outside of the Loop.

Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project

On February 20, 2006 the CTA formally broke ground on the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project in order to repair its aging infrastructure and increase passenger capacity at Brown Line stations. The primary features of the project include:

Reconstruction of stations and trackage and make each station ADA compliant
Lengthening of platforms to accommodate eight-car trains
Modernization of right-of-way between Kimballand Rockwell Avenue
Upgrade of traction power equipment and train control systems
Installation of a new fiber optic communication network.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2009 and is expected to cost $530 million. [link]

Station listing

Brown Line (Ravenswood branch)
Station	Location	Points of interest
Kimball	4755 N. Kimball Avenue	North Park University
Kedzie	4648 N. Kedzie Avenue
Francisco	4648 N. Francisco Avenue
Rockwell	4648 N. Rockwell Street
Western	4648 N. Western Avenue	Lincoln Square, Chicago
Damen	4645 N. Damen Avenue
Montrose	1814 W. Montrose Avenue
Irving Park	1816 W. Irving Park Road
Addison	1818 W. Addison Street
Paulina	3411 N. Paulina Street	Roscoe Village
Southport	3411 N. Southport Avenue	Music Box Theatre, alternate for Wrigley Field
Belmont	945 W. Belmont Avenue	Lakeview, Briar Street Theatre Transfer station for Red and Purple Lines
Wellington	945 W. Wellington Avenue	Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Diversey	940 W. Diversey Avenue	Lincoln Park
Fullerton	943 W. Fullerton Avenue	Lincoln Park, DePaul University Transfer station for Red and Purple Lines
Armitage	944 W. Armitage Avenue	Goose Island Brewery
Sedgwick	1536 N. Sedgwick Street	The Second City, Piper's Alley, Old Town
Chicago	300 W. Chicago Avenue	Moody Bible Institute, River North Gallery District
Merchandise Mart	350 N. Wells Street	Chicago Merchandise Mart Transfer station for Purple Line
Washington/Wells	100 S. Wells Street	Chicago City Hall, Civic Opera House, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Ogilvie Transportation Center Transfer station for Orange Line
Quincy	220 S. Wells Street	Sears Tower, Union Station Transfer station for Metra and Amtrak trains
LaSalle/Van Buren	121 W. Van Buren Street	Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange Transfer station for Metra trains
Library-State/Van Buren	26 W. Van Buren Street	Harold Washington Library
Adams/Wabash	201 S. Wabash Avenue	Grant Park, Petrillo Music Shell, Buckingham Fountain, Art Institute of Chicago Transfer station for Orange and Green Lines
Madison/Wabash	2 N. Wabash Avenue	Jewelers Row
Randolph/Wabash	151 N. Wabash Avenue	Marshall Field's, Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park Transfer station for Metra trains and South Shore Line
State/Lake	200 N. State Street	Chicago Theatre, Gene Siskel Film Center Transfer station for Red Line
Clark/Lake	100 W. Lake Street, Chicago	James R. Thompson Center, Richard J. Daley Center Transfer station for Green, Orange, and Blue Lines

At Clark/Lake, Brown Line trains head back to Merchandise Mart, then make all stops in reverse to Kimball.

External links

[Brown Line] at [Chicago-'L'.org]
[Train schedules] at [CTA official site]

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