Forest Park station

Forest Park
 
7650W
700S
Location 711 South Des Plaines Avenue
Forest Park, Illinois 60130
Coordinates 41°52′27″N 87°49′02″W / 41.874257°N 87.817318°W / 41.874257; -87.817318
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority, Village of Forest Park
Line(s)
  Blue Line
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type Elevated
Parking 1051 Spaces
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened March 11, 1905
Rebuilt 1953, 1959, 1981–82
Previous names Des Plaines
Traffic
Passengers (2017) 1,046,738[1] Decrease 5% (CTA)
Rank 67 out of 143
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
Forest Park Branch
toward O'Hare
Blue LineTerminus
Route map
Blue Line
east to O'Hare
Des Plaines Ave.
to yard

Forest Park is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the village of Forest Park, Illinois and serving the Blue Line. Before the Congress Line was built, it served as terminal for the Garfield Line. It is the western terminus of the Forest Park branch. The station was known as Des Plaines until 1994. It is also referred to as the Forest Park Transit Center by Pace because it is a major terminal for Pace buses.[2] The station contains a 1051-space Park and Ride lot which uses the "Pay and Display" system, in which fees are paid at the lot entrance. It is located next to the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad tracks which curve to the north of the station Towards Madison Street (Chicago) where the line rechristens itself to the Canadian National Railway's Waukesha Subdivision.

History

Forest Park destination sign

Forest Park opened in 1902, as a local interurban station on the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway. On March 11, 1905, the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad extended its Garfield Park rapid transit service west over the tracks of the Aurora Elgin and Chicago. An amusement park was located in this lot for 14 years (1908-1922) when an enormous fire incinerated parts of it, causing it to be shut down permanently. At this time Forest Park became the western terminal for the 'L' while continuing to serve as an interurban station. In 1958, the Congress Branch opened in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, the blue line was rerouted and connected to the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway Station LaSalle making Forest Park, the southern terminus of the blue line. Forest Park, however, is one of the few stations in the Congress Branch line that is not in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, and is 350 meters (1,148 ft 4 in) north of it. In 1966, the park-and-ride schedule of 1051 seats was opened and a new station was built and completed in December 1982 along with the Transit Center that provides connection to many bus lines.

On December 16, 2012, the CTA discontinued the 17 Westchester route, leaving only Pace buses to serve Forest Park.[3]

The station is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week and 1,175,588 passengers used the station in 2011.

Bus connections

Pace

  • 301 Roosevelt Road
  • 303 Forest Park/Rosemont
  • 305 East Roosevelt Road
  • 308 Medical Center
  • 310 Madison Street/Hillside
  • 317 Westchester
  • 318 West North Avenue
  • 320 Madison Street (weekday rush hours only)
  • 327 Industrial Drive (weekday rush hours only)
  • 757 Oak Park/Schaumburg Limited (weekday rush hours only)
  • 770 Brookfield Zoo Express/CTA Blue Line (Memorial Day through Labor Day on weekends only)

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2017" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 31, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
    2. ↑ Pace Bus Website
    3. ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-23/news/ct-met-pace-route-changes-20121123_1_pace-route-weekday-rush-hour-service-low-ridership-bus-routes
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