Ravenswood branch (CTA)

Ravenswood Branch
A Brown Line train at Montrose
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago 'L'
Status	Operational
Locale	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Termini	Kimball Belmont
Stations	12
Services	Brown Line
Daily ridership	30,949 (calculated average Feb. 2013)
Operation
Opening	May 18, 1907
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority (1947-present) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924-1947) Northwestern Elevated Railroad (1907-1924)
Character	Elevated, Surface
Rolling stock	2600-series, 3200-series
Technical
Line length	4.7 mi (7.6 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Legend Kimball Kedzie Francisco Chicago River North Branch Rockwell Western Damen Ravenswood Montrose Irving Park Addison Union Pacific North Line Paulina Southport Milwaukee Road Clark Junction North Side Main Line

The Ravenswood Branch is a 4.7 mi (7.6 km) long branch operated by the Brown Line 'L' of the Chicago Transit Authority in the city of Chicago, Illinois. As of February 2013, an average of 30,949 passengers are served each weekday on this branch.^[1]

Service

The Ravenswood Branch runs trains from Kimball to Belmont from 4:00am to 2:00am Monday thru Saturday and from 5:00am to 12:30am on Sundays/Holidays, and runs trains from Belmont to Kimball from 4:55am to 2:25am Monday thru Saturday and from 5:25am to 12:55am on Sundays/Holidays.^[2] The Ravenswood Branch serves the Lakeview, Roscoe Village, North Center, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood Manor and Albany Park neighborhoods of Chicago.

History

After its main line began service on May 31, 1900, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad focused on other expansion possibilities especially to the north-west of the city to serve the densely populated areas of Ravenswood. Despite financial difficulties, the Northwestern Elevated made it a priority and initially proposed an extension beyond Wilson at ground level in order to reduce construction costs. However, this proposal faced significant opposition which forced them to instead proposed an elevated line. In 1903, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad submitted a proposal to the City of Chicago for an elevated line to be built along Irving Park Road from the Sheridan station to Ravenswood Avenue, turning north on Ravenswood, before again turning west at Leland Avenue and terminating at Western Avenue. The conditions of the franchise that Northwestern Elevated received from the city required that the line follow a path between Roscoe Street and Newport Avenue from the main line to Ravenswood Avenue, rather than Irving Park road as in its proposal to the city. In 1906, work on the new line started, and on May 18, 1907 service began between Belmont and Western. The surface level track to Kimball entered service on December 14, 1907, along with three intermediate stations: Francisco, Kedzie and Rockwell. Service from Western to Kimball was initially solely a shuttle operation until March 1909. In 1913, Crosstown service was implemented and the Ravenswood Branch was connected to the South Side Elevated Railroad's Kenwood branch via the Loop.

On August 1, 1949, the current routing of service on the Ravenswood Branch (known today as the Brown Line) was established, and the Ravenswood station was closed. In September of 1973, the CTA closed the station at Paulina. However, the CTA reopened Paulina a month later, though only during peak hours. In October 1973, work began on a new stationhouse at the Kimball terminal, which opened in August 1974. On February 21, 1993, the CTA color coded its lines, and the Ravenswood Line was officially renamed the Brown Line. Ridership on the Ravenswood Branch increased from 8.1 million passengers per year in 1987 to 10.6 million in 1998, largely due to an increase in population of the neighborhoods served by the branch. As a result of the increased ridership, in the summer of 2000 the CTA expanded service to the Loop until midnight and offered a shuttle route between Kimball and Belmont before and after the standard service so that passengers can reach the Red Line which runs 24/7 365 days a year.^[3]

Station listing

Ravenswood Branch
Station	Location	Points of Interest & Notes
Kimball	4755 N. Kimball Avenue	Albany Park, Northeastern Illinois University, Northside College Prep, Albany Park Library
Kedzie	4648 N. Kedzie Avenue	Albany Park, North Park University, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Swedish Covenant Hospital
Francisco	4648 N. Francisco Avenue	Lincoln Square, Stephen Tyng Mather High School
Rockwell	4648 N. Rockwell Street	Lincoln Square, Ravenswood Manor Historic District
Western	4648 N. Western Avenue	Lincoln Square, Sulzer Regional Library, Krause Music Store, Old Town School of Folk Music
Damen	4645 N. Damen Avenue	Ravenswood, Amundsen High School, Rosehill Cemetery, St. Gregory the Great High School Transfer to Metra trains at Ravenswood. Originally called Robey.
Ravenswood	4530 N. Ravenswood Avenue	Closed August 1, 1949
Montrose	1817 W. Montrose Avenue	Ravenswood, Kinetic Playground, All Saints Episcopal Church
Irving Park	1816 W. Irving Park Road	Ravenswood, Lake View High School, Graceland Cemetery, St. Benedict High School
Addison	1818 W. Addison Street	North Center, Gordon Tech High School, WGN-TV Station
Paulina	3410 N. Lincoln Avenue	Lakeview, Lane Technical College Prep High School, Electrical Audio Recording Facility
Southport	3411 N. Southport Avenue	Lakeview, Music Box Theatre, Theatre Building Chicago
Belmont	945 W. Belmont Avenue	Lakeview, Briar Street Theater, Boystown, The Vic Theatre Transfer to Red and Purple Line Express trains

Image gallery

• 

  A Brown Line train crossing the North Branch of the Chicago River

• 

  A Brown Line train at Western and heading eastbound

• 

  A Brown Line train approaching Francisco

• 

  The fresh platform of the Paulina station

See also

• Brown Line (CTA)

References

External links

• Brown Line: Ravenswood at Chicago-L.org