Brown Line Core Capacity Project

[Tcmetro]

CMAP's FY2016 UWP notes an interesting new study forthcoming. Costing a cool $525k, it will look at ways to improve Brown Line performance.

The purpose of this project is to provide support for conceptual planning for a Brown Line Core Capacity project, including expansion of Kimball Yard, signal upgrades, and infrastructure realignments to improve travel time. This need for this project is supported by increasing ridership on the Brown Line, correlating with population shifts and new development along the Brown Line. This growth has taken place since the completion of the 2009 Brown Line Modernization Project, which improved stations and increased platform lengths to allow 8-car trains to operate on the branch. The 2009 project did not include the key supporting infrastructure improvements proposed here.

Study should begin in Dec. 15 and finish up a year later in Dec. 16.

http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/431597/FY2016--UWP(draft)document+6-3-15+tg.pdf/2397c2fb-7a70-4a8f-9070-cda6f63ccac6 (p. 47, PDF)

Edited July 17, 2015 by Tcmetro

[BusHunter]

How do they expand kimball yard?

[Busjack]

How do they expand kimball yard?

If you look at the linked document, it is only for a planning grant, so it is similar to any other consultant relief program, and might find out that you can't. On the other hand, since the CT Board Agenda for 7/15/15 includes buying one condo unit on Wilton St., maybe the consultant will come up with just demolish central Albany Park,

[joechicago]

Great idea, but my feeling is the Achilles heel of the entire el system is the loop structure. There are only so many trains that can go through towers 12 & 18, and if any delays or issues happen, they just ripple outwards. It would take tens of billions of dollars to fix that.

[Busjack]

Great idea, but my feeling is the Achilles heel of the entire el system is the loop structure. There are only so many trains that can go through towers 12 & 18, and if any delays or issues happen, they just ripple outwards. It would take tens of billions of dollars to fix that.

The thing that should have been done when it was proposed 40 or so years ago was to demolish it and build a subway system. That didn't happen, and with more new stations on it, won't. Rest assured that passenger load and train frequency on the Loop is way lower than when the Lake-Dan Ryan ran there, but others say that the signal system was slowed down after the 1977 crash at Lake and Wabash. Maybe that is somewhat offset by the Pink and Orange Lines. The real issue is what others have said in the RPM and Wilson station context that the Purple Line should be made the equivalent of a Red Line express and put into the State St. subway. But you can bet that isn't within the scope of this request.

[juelzkellz]

The thing that should have been done when it was proposed 40 or so years ago was to demolish it and build a subway system. That didn't happen, and with more new stations on it, won't. Rest assured that passenger load and train frequency on the Loop is way lower than when the Lake-Dan Ryan ran there, but others say that the signal system was slowed down after the 1977 crash at Lake and Wabash. Maybe that is somewhat offset by the Pink and Orange Lines. The real issue is what others have said in the RPM and Wilson station context that the Purple Line should be made the equivalent of a Red Line express and put into the State St. subway. But you can bet that isn't within the scope of this request.

Where would the Purple Line Express trains go after they arrive downtown in the subway? How would they turn around and go back north without screwing up the Red Line operations?

[Busjack]

Where would the Purple Line Express trains go after they arrive downtown in the subway? How would they turn around and go back north without screwing up the Red Line operations?

Undoubtedly cheaper to build a turnback. Somehow Green Line trains had and still have Roosevelt as a last stop.

There was also the Circle Line proposal to run them up in the subway and up the incline to the Orange Line, and then on a bridge between Archer and Cullerton on Paulina, ending at the United Center. But, after blowing a lot of consultant money, the Circle Line seems dead, too.

[chicagopcclcar]

Where would the Purple Line Express trains go after they arrive downtown in the subway? How would they turn around and go back north without screwing up the Red Line operations?

Thinking out the box, go up the Green line and terminate at McCormick Place.

 

[NewFlyerMCI]

Thinking out the box, go up the Green line and terminate at McCormick Place.

 

That seems so complicated.

I didn't see anything about the proposed flyover, was that still happening?

[chicagopcclcar]

That seems so complicated.

I didn't see anything about the proposed flyover, was that still happening?

The discussion was what to do with a Purple line express rerouted into the subway.  1 Continue as Red line, last stop at 35th, turn in 63rd middle like Brown reroute. Least costly.  2. Go up to Green line, use 17th Tower last stop at 35th, turn in 37th middle like the first Brown reroute. Green and Purple would need coordination. 3. Build elevated line from Green line to McCormick Place with junction.  Phase two ....extend line to Museum Campus.

By "proposed flyover"do you mean at Belmont??  Thats another plan.   

[brownliner]

How do they expand kimball yard?

There's a junky second hand store and houses on Spaulding on that block.  Buy those, tear them down, and there's room for storing another ten or twelve eight-car trains. 

[BusHunter]

There's a junky second hand store and houses on Spaulding on that block.  Buy those, tear them down, and there's room for storing another ten or twelve eight-car trains. 

Or they could build a bridge on that land that leads to a second deck to double the capacity of the yard. Technically that could be done with the land they have, but they would have to sacrifice two tracks during construction with a possible rolling closure to the rest of the tracks as they construct it. I don't know if such a yard exists in the world but it would give them plenty of capacity.

[strictures]

CTA needs to take the St. Charles Airline by eminent domain.

Canadian National RR wants to abandon it & it would make an easier way to get Loop Shuttles to McCormick Place, which needs far better rail access than the Metra Electric.

[Busjack]

CTA needs to take the St. Charles Airline by eminent domain.

Canadian National RR wants to abandon it & it would make an easier way to get Loop Shuttles to McCormick Place, which needs far better rail access than the Metra Electric.

Aside from that not being the topic, how would you connect it to the CTA system?

[Tcmetro]

This is tangential to the Brown Line project, but the Crossrail Chicago plan wants to make use of the St. Charles Airline to connect the Metra Electric line to Union Station so that a new regional line from Champaign to Rockford can be operated, like along with new suburban and O'Hare express services.

I think that the best improvement to the Brown Line (and by far, the least likely) is the resurrection of the Franklin St Subway. Trains would dive underground along with the Red Line, with a North Av. transfer, then run under Franklin and Wells in the loop, run through all the vacant (but soon to be developed) land in the South Loop along the river, then onto the Orange line.

The project description does mention realignments to improve service speed. The only curve that seems to have a real impact on service speed is the North/Clybourn/Halsted one, and that one is a huge slow zone.

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Also, I couldn't find the fantasy, unrealistic proposal thread, but I felt the following idea is worth sharing.

Basically, Purple Express trains would be combined with Orange Line trains through the Subway, freeing up capacity in the loop and on the North Side Main Line local tracks. Post-RPM, all stations from Belmont to Roosevelt would receive the same amount or better service. All Purple Line stops, as well as Loyola and Wilson would feature faster service, and local stations between Howard and Belmont would likely see a small cut in off-peak frequencies. Additionally, Orange Line riders as well as Midway Airport travelers would get a faster, more direct ride to River North and Michigan Ave. Peak service would be 4-5 min on each line and off-peak service 7-8 minutes. Combined service between Belmont and Roosevelt would be 2-2.5 min peak and 3.5 min off-peak. The largest obstacle would be a rearrangement of the subway portal on the south end. The tracks would need to be reconfigured to prevent conflicts between Purple/Orange and Green Line trains.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Tcmetro

[Busjack]

...

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Also, I couldn't find the fantasy, unrealistic proposal thread, but I felt the following idea is worth sharing.

,,,

That's essentially a takeoff on the Circle Line proposal, which I mentioned above.

As far as the subway portal, there were always 2: the incline to the South Side Main, which used to be used for Howard-Englewood/Jackson Park trains, and when the Dan Ryan Red Line was shut down and those trains were rerouted to Englewood, and the southwest portal, now used for the Red Line Dan Ryan. The question would be what complications there would be in putting in a full time switch, instead of leaving it at one of the two above routings.

If you are implying that there is a problem on the elevated, the Lake Dan Ryan used what is now the Orange/Green routing, while the Englewood/Jackson Park came from the subway to the L. Maybe it was then less confusing because the Englewood/Jackson Park came up on the inside, while the Lake-Dan-Ryan was on the outside, while now everything is on the outside. But, again, the same issue occurred when the incline was used when the Dan Ryan was closed.

Update: The portal question isn't conceptually different from the Airport Express proposal to use the Block 37 station to run trains to both O'Hare and Midway, except that Huberman put a fork into that one, too.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Busjack