CTA Abandoned Stations

[qwantae]

I've only lived here for couple years, so I have a question, When and Why did they closed these stations:

Blue Line: Kostner, Central and California?

Green Line: Racine?

[trainman8119]

I've only lived here for couple years, so I have a question, When and Why did they closed these stations:

Blue Line: Kostner, Central and California?

Green Line: Racine?

The Racine station on the Green Line was closed when the line was rebuilt and was not included in stations that were retained.

Kostner, California and Central (along with a whole mess of auxiliary entrances) on the Blue Line were closed in the 1980's during one of CTA's lack of revenue purges. All were low ridership stations. There was a belief that California would reopen someday, but every time it was proposed, money ran out or it was just decided that there was not enough interest in the station to reopen it. It was also felt that Kostner had Pulaski close by and California was close enough to Western to justify keeping them closed.

[Busjack]

I can't speak for the particular stations, but the usual criteria are the number of boardings compared to the cost of maintaining (then) a ticket agent (now a customer assistant) and the delay caused by having to stop at that station. With regard to the much earlier closure of the Grand station on the North Side Main, Krambles said (CTA at 45, page 35):

Adaptation to constantly changing land use makes ongoing review of route and station locations imperative if a transit system is to satisfy public convenience and necessity with minimal subsidy. ... As an example, Grand station, one of those closed, was within a few hundred feet of Merchandise Mart.... Last patronized by only a few dozen, Grand's removal speeded up travel for thousands of rush hour riders who had been inconvenienced by the stop.

Also note Krambles having mentioned satisfying public convenience and necessity with minimal subsidy--an idea that seems to have been lost in the Doomsday plans, as elsewhere discussed.

With regard to the Congress line, he said at page 119:

In the [then] 34+ years [now 49] since opening the line, changing land use and riding patterns have caused total closure of several stations and of the lesser ramp access at others.

The preceding is probably more responsive to your request.

While there are also sentiments (such as those mentioned at the time the Green Line was rennovated) that stopping every couple of blocks is not rapid transit, others have voice the need for some infill stations, such as around Morgan to serve the Randolph Market area. (However, the particular advocacy group for that is itself out of business.)

[RJL6000]

Kostner, California and Central (along with a whole mess of auxiliary entrances) on the Blue Line were closed in the 1980's during one of CTA's lack of revenue purges. All were low ridership stations. There was a belief that California would reopen someday, but every time it was proposed, money ran out or it was just decided that there was not enough interest in the station to reopen it. It was also felt that Kostner had Pulaski close by and California was close enough to Western to justify keeping them closed.

Actually, those three stations on the then Congress (now Forest Park) branch of the Blue Line closed on September 2, 1973. That year was a bad one for the CTA: In addition to those three, several now-demolished stations (State on the Englewood branch, Dorchester on the Jackson Park branch, Isabella on the Evanston line and the original State/Van Buren station in the Loop) and several station entrances closed. The now-preserved-at-IRM station 50th Avenue (on the then Douglas branch, now the Pink Line and the Cermak Branch of the Blue Line) also originally closed in 1973, but reopened about a year later and remained open until 1978, when the then-new Cicero station (the old Cicero station was on the east side of Cicero Avenue) opened on the west side of Cicero Avenue, with an auxillary entrance at 49th Avenue (now exit-only). Two Ravenswood (Brown Line) stations, Sedgwick and Paulina, also closed briefly in 1973, but have since reopened. (The Sedgwick station is currently being rebuilt as part of the Brown Line Expansion Capacity Project, with the station's original 1900-built headhouse being integrated into the new facility; the entrance to the station is currently through a temporary entrance on Hudson, one block west of Sedgwick. The Paulina station is slated to close for reconstruction in 2008 when the adjacent Addison and/or Southport stations reopen.)

[Tcmetro]

Look on www.chicago-l.org for history on lines. There are tons of stations that have been abandon, or torn down over the years.

[Zol87]

58th on the Green line

[Danielsmusic]

I don't care whether the CTA liked the station or not, but I miss University on the North-South line. In my younger days, I lived right by the station, and I used to take it to work. I was really, really sad when it didn't reopen. I moved right before the line reopened, and was surprised that University didn't reopen. For those who care, it looked just like King Drive.

[Busjack]

But I am sure that if the L remained east of Cottage Grove, you wouldn't have had the development on 63rd between Woodlawn and Dorchester. Do you know if there has been any development west of Woodlawn to Maryland?

I also noted that the U of C cut off University Ave. at the law school, and, in any event, any station, had the line survived, would have been dependent on walk-up traffic.

[HowardJones64]

On 10/16/2007 at 11:42 PM, trainman8119 said:

 

The Racine station on the Green Line was closed when the line was rebuilt and was not included in stations that were retained.

 

Kostner, California and Central on the Blue Line closed in 1973 due to CTA budget cuts. All three were low ridership stations. There was a belief that California would reopen someday, but every time it was proposed, money ran out or it was just decided that there was not enough interest in the station to reopen it. It was also felt that Kostner had Pulaski close by and California was close enough to Western to justify keeping them closed.

 

[strictures]

​

​Kostner was built years after the Congress Line opened & was undoubtedly a payoff to some politician in the area, along with the construction company that got the job. The entrance was just a quarter mile from the Keeler entrance to Pulaski.

A total waste of money to build it!

[indigofoundue74]

Don't forget 61st on the Green Line!

[artthouwill]

5 hours ago, indigofoundue74 said:

Don't forget 61st on the Green Line!

Not really.  Firstly, there used to be a railyard and shop there.  The Jackson Park branch, which used to run to 63rd and Stony Island.  That station came in handy in 1981 when a crack was discovered on the structure that crossed over the IC (Metra Electric) tracks on 63rd east of Dorchester.  The problem was the diamond crossover was east of that bridge and the next closest crossover was south of the 61st station.  When the crack was discovered,  B trains were truncated at 61st until a crossover was built just west of the University Station on 63rd. I forget the year, but the shop suffered a fire also.  Trains were still stored there until the Green Line was shut down for 2 years in 1994.  When the Green Line reopened, stations like Racine, Harvard, Wentworth, 61st, and 58th remained closed with only the Racine station still standing.

During the truncation mentioned above, the 63, 27, and 6 Local were rerouted and/or extended to serve the 61st St station.  The purpose for that station was to benefit University of Chicago students who lived along 61st or 60th.  They could ride the 59 59th/61st bus to  61st St station and then transfer to the B train.  In the late 60s and 70s, that was safer than walking to 63rd.  With the 3 getting a Limited route and eventually the 4 getting an X route, and the 2 getting an extension along 60th, a 61st station was no longer necessary.   But it served a purpose for a long time. 

[jackathan]

The partially demolished Clark platform was entirely demolished thanks to RPM construction.

[NewFlyerMCI]

8 hours ago, jackathan said:

The partially demolished Clark platform was entirely demolished thanks to RPM construction.

What Clark platform? NSML crosses Clark just past Belmont and I've never seen the remnants of a platform there

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

What Clark platform? NSML crosses Clark just past Belmont and I've never seen the remnants of a platform there

Chicago-L.org has a 1913 map that shows a Clark station north of Belmont (clearer in this Block Club Chicago recreation). Chicago-L.org's abandoned station page for Clark says it was closed in 1949. 

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

Chicago-L.org has a 1913 map that shows a Clark station north of Belmont (clearer in this Block Club Chicago recreation). Chicago-L.org's abandoned station page for Clark says it was closed in 1949. 

Thanks for this. I’m still curious tho, what remnants of that platform was left? I don’t ever recall seeing any in the last ~20 years

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Thanks for this. I’m still curious tho, what remnants of that platform was left? I don’t ever recall seeing any in the last ~20 years

 

IIRC, and Chicago-L.org confirms, only the point at Clark Jct.,  and the latter points out that the substation is on most of the station site.

[Busjack]

Sun-Times article about trying to get an advisory referendum to reopen the Racine-63rd station.

From the pictures of the surrounding area, it looks like that train has passed, IMO.

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

Sun-Times article about trying to get an advisory referendum to reopen the Racine-63rd station.

From the pictures of the surrounding area, it looks like that train has passed, IMO.

In the one hand. I agree that it would be nice to have the Racine stop reopened.  But even when I was growing up in the area when it was the Englewood Howard lin, that stop was not bustling.  A lot of people opted to take the 63rd St bus to the Dan Ryan Line.   With stop stop service,  the trip from 63rd to Adams and Wabash was 10 minutes.  Even now with less stations ( no Harvard,  Wentworth. 58th St), and no DAN Ryan skip stops, the Red Line is perceived as the faster option with 8 stations between Racine and Adams and Wabash on the Green line compared to  6 stations between 63rd and Jackson on the Red line. 

I certainly understand that CTA may not want to pour a bunch of money into a little used station.  Making it accessible might be very hard considering one platform  abuts the rail shop.   It would be interesting to hear the mayoral candidates' viewpoints. 

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

 It would be interesting to hear the mayoral candidates' viewpoints. 

On that point, everyone in the city wants an L stop within 2 blocks, but they, for the most part, are only going to gt that on the RPM. Mayoral candidates have to cater to the whole city.

Maybe RAGE misconceived the scope of the project. At Garfield, CTA built a new station across the street from the historic one, but Garfield had more potential.

[Busjack]

Sun-Times says Rep. Rush procured $2 million to the Chicago Transit Authority for an Englewood Racine Green Line Station Feasibility Study.

[strictures]

8 hours ago, Busjack said:

Sun-Times says Rep. Rush procured $2 million to the Chicago Transit Authority for an Englewood Racine Green Line Station Feasibility Study.

$2 million for a study on whether to reopen a station?

Someone is getting a lot of bribes out of that money!

[Busjack]

50 minutes ago, strictures said:

$2 million for a study on whether to reopen a station?

Someone is getting a lot of bribes out of that money!

Most of the stuff listed was pure pork.

[Bus1883]

Million dollar question is will they end up demolishing the California, Central & Kostner stations during the phases of the Forest Park branch reconstruction?

[Shannoncvpi]

On 12/24/2022 at 5:37 PM, Bus1883 said:

Million dollar question is will they end up demolishing the California, Central & Kostner stations during the phases of the Forest Park branch reconstruction?

I doubt they been abandoned for the last 20+ years if they really wanted to take them out they would have been did it imo they should rehab them & repoen them but they don't wanna spend the money