Halsted station (CTA Orange Line)

Now-closed stairs to the former station

Halsted Street station opened in 1902 on the Alton Railroad, replacing the 23rd Street station to the east, which was closed due to elevation of the tracks.[2] By 1911, it had three separate island platforms east of Halsted Street serving the lines of the Alton Railroad (now the Joliet Subdivision), the Illinois Central Railroad (now the Freeport Subdivision), and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (now the Chillicothe Subdivision). Each platform had a separate set of stairs from Halsted Street; the station building was located on the Alton Railroad platform.[3]

The station was served by Illinois Central West Line commuter trains until they were discontinued in 1931.[4] The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) began subsidizing remaining commuter service in 1974, including the Alton Railroad service as the Heritage Corridor. The RTA closed the station on May 15, 1984, along with neighboring Brighton Park and eleven other stations in the system, due to low ridership.[5][6]

Construction of the $410 million Midway Line began in 1987. The line largely used existing railroad rights-of-way, including the Joliet Subdivision though the Bridgeport neighborhood.[7] It opened as the Orange Line on October 31, 1993.[8][7] The new Halsted station is located west of the Halsted Street overpass. Like all stations on the line, it was built with an elevator for accessibility.[9]