Yellow Line (CTA)

The Yellow Line originally began as the Niles Center Branch of the old Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT). The rapid transit service began as part of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad's high-speed Skokie Valley interurban line on a five-mile (8 km) section between Howard Terminal and Dempster Street, Niles Center. It was placed in operation on March 28, 1925.[6]

The route included several intermediate stops through Evanston and Skokie (then called Niles Center) at Ridge, Asbury, Dodge, Crawford/East Prairie, Kostner, Oakton and Main. On March 27, 1948, the Chicago Transit Authority (who had just bought out the Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1947) discontinued service over the Niles Center Branch and replaced it with the 97 Skokie bus route. The stations were closed and remained abandoned for the next 15 years.[1]

On January 21, 1963, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad ceased all of its operations and later that year, 5 miles (8.0 km) of trackage between Howard and Dempster was purchased by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The intermediate stations were not reopened. Some of the vacant station houses were used by other businesses, including a convenience store and an electrical supplier, before finally being demolished in the 1980s.[1]

The Skokie Swift's rolling stock was dedicated of four 5000-series trainsets, seen here in April 1966.

The Skokie Swift high-speed (5 miles in 6+1⁄2 minutes) shuttle service, between Howard Street in Chicago and Dempster Street in Skokie, was inaugurated on April 20, 1964, as a federally-aided mass transportation demonstration project.[7] Participation in the net project costs was divided between the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, CTA and the Village of Skokie.

View eastbound from Kostner Street prior to the installation of third rail

The success of this project had attracted nationwide attention. On its first day of service, Skokie Swift carried nearly 4,000 passengers in a 16-hour period compared to approximately 1,600 passengers carried by the North Shore Line from the Dempster Terminal in a 12-hour period before the railroad terminated. Ridership continued to increase and by the end of the first year, nearly 6,000 passengers were riding the new line each weekday.

Because of the weekday success, Saturday service was inaugurated, with more than 2,000 riders. At the end of the two-year experimental period, 3.5 million people had used the new service and CTA authorized operation of the Skokie Swift as a permanent part of its rapid transit system.

The success of the Skokie Swift route demonstrated that many motorists will forsake their cars when high-speed mass transit is provided and to a minor extent, gave birth to the first use of light rail before the term was ever coined.[1]

Prior to 2004, the section of the line west of the East Prairie Road grade crossing was electrified with overhead catenary instead of third rail.

One of the distinctive features of the five-mile (8 km) line was that approximately half was equipped with third rail while the other half was equipped with catenary left over from the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad. Trains switched non-stop from third rail to overhead and vice versa using distinctive pan trolleys designed by Skokie Swift Project Manager George Krambles.[8]

On February 9, 1992, Saturday service was discontinued during a service reduction by CTA.[1] The "Skokie Swift" name was changed to the "Yellow Line" in 1993, when all Chicago 'L' lines were renamed for colors.[1] The original logo of the "Skokie Swift" continues to be used today on signage and LED route displays of the Bombardier-built 5000-series rail cars for service towards Skokie. The Dempster Street Terminal was completely rebuilt from 1993 to 1994, with a new station house and train platforms.[1] In 2003, the old brick station building (designed by architect Arthur U. Gerber) was moved 150 feet (46 m) to the east, then was restored and converted into commercial property.

The old Dempster Street station building immediately prior to being moved

The Skokie Swift was the only CTA rapid transit line to use overhead catenary for electrification. It was also the last CTA rapid transit line to use overhead, as portions of the Evanston and Lake Street lines used conventional trolley overhead until 1973 and 1962, respectively. Third-rail electrification was installed in 2004 to increase reliability, allow compatibility with other rapid-transit lines and reduce maintenance costs.[1]

In 2008, Saturday service was restored and brand new Sunday service was added.[9]

A groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction of a new intermediate stop on the Yellow Line, Oakton–Skokie, took place on June 21, 2010.[10] The station is located in downtown Skokie and was the first new CTA station built since 2001. The new station opened on April 30, 2012.[11]

On May 17, 2015, a section of the embankment west of McCormick Boulevard collapsed, causing the entire track to be damaged.[12] The collapse was due to a failure in construction at the adjacent O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant. No trains could operate either way due to the track condition. At 10:00 PM on that day, an emergency closure of the Yellow Line was called. Yellow Line service returned on October 30, 2015, with the CTA offering free rides for one week and free parking at the Dempster-Skokie Terminal through the end of 2015.

In the past several years, there have been plans to build a branch of the Yellow Line from Oakton to Montrose with a connection to the Blue Line.

After August 2008, two corridors remained for further study, the alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad (bus and heavy rail) as well as a combined track along Gross Point Road and Skokie Blvd (bus only).[16] As of April 30, 2009, the two corridors have been narrowed down to one option – an elevated single track rail corridor that will follow the Union Pacific Railroad right of way. Under the most recent version of the plan, the Old Orchard terminal will be elevated.

The Chicago Transit Authority was reviewing plans to extend the Yellow Line north from the current end-of-line terminal at Dempster–Skokie to a new end-of-line terminal at Old Orchard Mall, a distance of about 1.5 miles (2.4 km). This extension was canceled.[17]

CTA

• 22 Clark
• 97 Skokie
• 147 Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express
• 201 Central/Ridge
• 206 Evanston Circulator

Pace

• 213 Green Bay Road
• 215 Crawford-Howard
• 290 Touhy Avenue

CTA

• 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.
• 97 Skokie

Pace

• 210 Lincoln Ave.
• 226 Oakton St. (3 blocks west)

CTA

• 54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd.
• 97 Skokie

Pace

• 250 Dempster Street
• 620 Yellow Line Dempster - Allstate
• 626 Skokie Valley Limited
• Pulse Dempster Line (Sundays only)

The Skokie Swift station on Dempster has two parking lots, a South Lot is directly adjacent to the Skokie Swift station and a North Lot across Dempster street. The fee is $3 per day for the South Lot and $2 per day for the North Lot payable in the fee boxes at the station. In 2014, token parking payment was discontinued. The fee must now be paid with cash, credit or debit cards.