Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad

Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad
A train on the Metropolitan main line passes over the Chicago river.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
Locale	Chicago, Illinois
Services	Logan Square Humboldt Park Garfield Park Douglas Park
Operation
Opened	May 6, 1895[1]
Closed	1924 (merged into Chicago Rapid Transit Company)
Operator(s)	Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company (1895–1899) Metropolitan West side Elevated Railway (1899–1924)
Character	Elevated
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Wells Street Terminal to Loop Franklin Terminal Franklin/ Van Buren Canal Halsted Racine Laflin Marshfield Northwest branch Garfield Park Douglas Park Madison Polk Lake Roosevelt Grand Ogden Chicago 14th Place Division Hoyne Robey 18th Logan Square Humboldt Park Western Western Western California California Logan Square Humboldt Park Kedzie Wood Ballou California Lawndale Hoyne Sacramento Western Kedzie California St. Louis Douglas Park Garfield Park Kedzie Crawford Homan Tripp Clifton Park Kilbourn Lawndale Cicero Crawford Laramie Kildare Central Kenton Austin 48th Lombard 50th Gunderson 52nd Oak Park 54th Home 56th Harlem 58th Hannah Austin Forest Park 62nd Concordia Cemetery Waldheim Cemetery Des Plaines River Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad Metropolitan "L" trackage Chicago Aurora & Elgin trackage Metropolitan "L" trackage rights

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (known as the Met or Polly "L"^[2]) was the third elevated rapid transit line to be built in Chicago, Illinois and was the first of Chicago’s elevated lines to be electrically powered. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Marshfield Avenue with branches to Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Douglas Park (eventually extended to the suburb of Berwyn, Illinois). Portions of the system are still operated as sections of the Blue Line and the Pink Line.

Operation

At 6 o'clock AM on May 7, 1895, the first train of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated left the Robey Street station bound for the downtown terminal at Canal.^[1]

Consolidation

In 1913, Chicago's four elevated railroad companies came together to form the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust establishing crosstown services for the first time, and in 1924 all four companies were formally united to form the Chicago Rapid Transit Company.^[3] The Chicago Transit Authority took over the assets of the CRT in 1947. In 1951, the Logan Square branch was rerouted into the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway, and the Humboldt Park Branch was cut back to a shuttle to Damen Avenue. The Humboldt Park branch would be discontinued a year later.

In 1952, the Douglas branch was shortened to its present terminal at 54th/Cermak^[4] and the Humboldt Park branch was closed.^[5] The construction of the Eisenhower Expressway required the demolition of the Garfield Park branch and the Main Line but also called for a replacement rapid transit line in the median of the expressway. In 1958, the Garfield Park Branch was replaced by the new Congress Line.^[6] Much of the Metropolitan still operates today, with the Blue Line using a portion of the Logan Square branch on its way to O'Hare International Airport, as well as the Congress Line that replaced the Garfield Park Branch. The Douglas Park Branch, initially operated as a branch of the Blue Line from 1958 to 2006, is now operated as the Pink Line.

Station listing

References

External links

• Metropolitan West Side Elevated Company System Map