Busjack Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 CTA Press Release and Sun-Times article on schedule changes effective A[ril 20, 2025. Main highlights are more Blue Line service and a better connection between the Red and Yellow lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam92 Posted March 27 Report Share Posted March 27 On 3/18/2025 at 9:21 AM, Busjack said: CTA Press Release and Sun-Times article on schedule changes effective A[ril 20, 2025. Main highlights are more Blue Line service and a better connection between the Red and Yellow lines. I can understand the O'Hare branch service but the forest park branch is questionable especially with so many people I hear talking about preferring the green line for the west side due to the slow zones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted March 27 Report Share Posted March 27 2 hours ago, Sam92 said: I can understand the O'Hare branch service but the forest park branch is questionable especially with so many people I hear talking about preferring the green line for the west side due to the slow zones Yes, the slow zones are bad but low frequency service makes it undesirable. Imagine trying to connect to a Pace bus with a 20 minute frequency or longer. The slow train arrives just in time for you to miss the connection. The Green line is faster but the Pink Line is even faster, though it's not an option for everyone. The problem is that the Forest Park branch doesn't have a high enough ridership to support really frequent service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam92 Posted April 19 Report Share Posted April 19 The schedules are out. I don't know what I'm missing but with all these supposed trips being added to forest park there'd be less short turns even accounting for all trains going through after 8pm vs 10-11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renardo870 Posted April 21 Report Share Posted April 21 Yellow Line resumes normal speed of 55 mph. https://www.transitchicago.com/new-cta-rail-service-schedules-begin-this-weekend/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted April 21 Report Share Posted April 21 15 hours ago, renardo870 said: Yellow Line resumes normal speed of 55 mph. https://www.transitchicago.com/new-cta-rail-service-schedules-begin-this-weekend/ It was only a matter of time before this happened. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renardo870 Posted April 21 Report Share Posted April 21 6 hours ago, artthouwill said: It was only a matter of time before this happened. Yeah, CTA had to do their due diligence and let the investigation play out before they restored normal speeds along the Skokie Swift but kept reduced speeds at various locations, including the approach to Howard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted April 21 Report Share Posted April 21 9 minutes ago, renardo870 said: Yeah, CTA had to do their due diligence and let the investigation play out before they restored normal speeds along the Skokie Swift but kept reduced speeds at various locations, including the approach to Howard. Thy also had to fix the block signal issues that were cited in the NTSB Final Report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geneking7320 Posted April 22 Report Share Posted April 22 Some of us might remember when the Skokie Swift supposedly reached speeds of 70mph. I doubt CTA will return to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted April 22 Report Share Posted April 22 3 hours ago, geneking7320 said: Some of us might remember when the Skokie Swift supposedly reached speeds of 70mph. I doubt CTA will return to that. I remember that, it was fun going that fast, especially through the grade crossings. of course there were also a number of crashes, especially at Oakton St, due mostly to old people who ignore the bells, lights & gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sht6131 Posted April 22 Report Share Posted April 22 I rode cars 1-4 from Howard to Dempster during those 65 -70 mph speeds going home from work. I used to hold my breath going around the Oakton curve hoping nothing is on the track at the crossing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperfix8 Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 How do Purple shuttle trains operate at Howard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 18 minutes ago, hyperfix8 said: How do Purple shuttle trains operate at Howard? Use a track in the middle and change ends. Yellow Line is essentially the same, bit on a shorter track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperfix8 Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 20 minutes ago, Busjack said: Use a track in the middle and change ends. Yellow Line is essentially the same, bit on a shorter track. Does it use a track in the station, or outside of it like the Skokie Swift/Yellow Line? I don't see anywhere it's able to do this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 27 Author Report Share Posted April 27 29 minutes ago, hyperfix8 said: Does it use a track in the station, or outside of it like the Skokie Swift/Yellow Line? I don't see anywhere it's able to do this... South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus1883 Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 53 minutes ago, hyperfix8 said: Does it use a track in the station, or outside of it like the Skokie Swift/Yellow Line? I don't see anywhere it's able to do this... Howard bound Purple Line trains bypass the yellow line track using the middle southbound track, then switches all the way over to the linden bound track next to the Howard bound red line tracks at Jarvis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam92 Posted April 27 Report Share Posted April 27 1 hour ago, hyperfix8 said: Does it use a track in the station, or outside of it like the Skokie Swift/Yellow Line? I don't see anywhere it's able to do this... 2 hours ago, hyperfix8 said: How do Purple shuttle trains operate at Howard? In between Jarvis and Howard you'll notice a 5th track in certain spots. Those are the turn back tracks for the purple and yellow; under normal operations the trains arrive at the south bound platform, clear out then go to that 5th track. Then arrive back at the northbound platform to load up. Now when delays happen and they're trying to get trains in and out expect anything to happen (mainly reds exclusively using the west platform and not wasting time on the loop while purple and yellow just change ends at the east platform and skip the step of using the 5th track). If you need to make a transfer at Howard I'd advise giving yourself an extra 15 min due to this cause there's no particular warning of when this happens and you might miss a train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperfix8 Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 3 hours ago, Sam92 said: In between Jarvis and Howard you'll notice a 5th track in certain spots. Those are the turn back tracks for the purple and yellow; under normal operations the trains arrive at the south bound platform, clear out then go to that 5th track. Then arrive back at the northbound platform to load up. Now when delays happen and they're trying to get trains in and out expect anything to happen (mainly reds exclusively using the west platform and not wasting time on the loop while purple and yellow just change ends at the east platform and skip the step of using the 5th track). If you need to make a transfer at Howard I'd advise giving yourself an extra 15 min due to this cause there's no particular warning of when this happens and you might miss a train Purple Line trains are too long for the track used by Skokie trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperfix8 Posted April 28 Report Share Posted April 28 4 hours ago, Bus1883 said: Howard bound Purple Line trains bypass the yellow line track using the middle southbound track, then switches all the way over to the linden bound track next to the Howard bound red line tracks at Jarvis. Ah, I understand perfectly now. Thank you so much for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renardo870 Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 For the Blue Line runs that uses Pink equipment from Racine or UIC/Halsted to Jefferson Park during AM and PM rush hours, is it 2 runs or 3 runs? Recently, I saw Run 314 SB at Irving Park with an 8 car consist 5231-5232, 5233-5234, 5237-5238 and 5208-5207. Do they have 16 or 24 additional cars for the Blue runs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam92 Posted May 3 Report Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, renardo870 said: For the Blue Line runs that uses Pink equipment from Racine or UIC/Halsted to Jefferson Park during AM and PM rush hours, is it 2 runs or 3 runs? Recently, I saw Run 314 SB at Irving Park with an 8 car consist 5231-5232, 5233-5234, 5237-5238 and 5208-5207. Do they have 16 or 24 additional cars for the Blue runs? Hard to tell cause they aren't marked in the timetable anymore. I see 3 morning trips that go UIC-Jeff Ok and one in the evening. It used to be 3 (318,319 and 32-something) starting and ending at Racine before the pandemic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 On 4/22/2025 at 5:27 PM, sht6131 said: I rode cars 1-4 from Howard to Dempster during those 65 -70 mph speeds going home from work. I used to hold my breath going around the Oakton curve hoping nothing is on the track at the crossing. Numerous old people & teens with cars loaded with a pile of other teens were the problems there. They ignored the crossing gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus1883 Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 3 hours ago, strictures said: Numerous old people & teens with cars loaded with a pile of other teens were the problems there. They ignored the crossing gates. And they attempt to beat the train to get around the gates. They wind themselves severely injured or killed while their car is completely destroyed when a train strikes. A yellow line seat consisted of cars #5517-5518 that killed the driver in the red sedan almost 10 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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