Harold Washington Library – State/Van Buren (CTA station)

Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren
Location One West Van Buren Street
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Coordinates 41°52′37″N 87°37′42″W / 41.876862°N 87.628196°W
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)
  Purple Line weekday rush hours only
Platforms 2 Side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections
Construction
Structure type Elevated
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened October 3, 1897
Closed September 2, 1973
Rebuilt June 22, 1997
Previous names State/Van Buren
Library-State/Van Buren
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 1,240,103[1] Decrease 1.5% (CTA)
Rank 61 out of 143[lower-alpha 1]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
One-way operation
Brown Line
toward Kimball
One-way operation
Orange Line
toward Midway
One-way operation
Purple Line
toward Linden
Pink Line
toward 54th/Cermak
  Farecard transfers  
toward Howard
Red Line
State Street Subway
Transfer at: Jackson
toward O'Hare
Blue Line
Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway
Transfer at: Jackson
toward Forest Park
Route map
Legend

Purple, Orange and Pink Lines
west to Linden, Midway, and 54th/Cermak

Federal St.

Dearborn St.

Plymouth Ct.
State St.

Brown Line
east to Kimball

Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren (formerly Library-State/Van Buren, commonly abbreviated as Library) is a handicapped accessible 'L' station serving the CTA's Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines. Originally, the station was to have direct access to the second floor of the Harold Washington Library building, but this direct connection was never built. Farecard transfers are also available at the station for the Blue and Red Lines via the Jackson/Dearborn and Jackson/State subway stations, respectively. It was originally known as State/Van Buren when it first opened in 1897. The original station closed on September 2, 1973, along with six other stations, due to low ridership, and demolished in 1975.[2] The new station was rebuilt and reopened on June 22, 1997 in order to serve the Harold Washington Library.[3] The Chicago Transit Authority board voted unanimously on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, to rename the station to its current name.[4] It is the second newest station in the Loop with Washington/Wells being the first.

Bus connections

View of Library-State/Van Buren from Dearborn Street

CTA

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Due to possible double-counting of physically-connected stations, the CTA's official 2014 tally of stations was 145, but for ridership purposes reported having only 143 stations.

References

  1. ↑ "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2014" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. March 5, 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Buck, Thomas (September 2, 1973). "CTA Shutting Down 7 Rapid Transit Stations Today". Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
  3. ↑ Hilkevitch, Jon (June 18, 1997). "Library Going on CTA Line - New Rail Station to Bring Riders Right Next to Books". Chicago Tribune. p. 3.
  4. ↑ Hilkevitch, Jon. "'L' stop named for Mayor Harold Washington". Chicago Breaking News. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 7, 2010.

External links

Media related to Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons