CTA/Pink is the new name for Cermak Branch, of Blue Line Options

[AmtrakFan]

Well Folks,
The results are in and the new name for the CTA Cermack Branch or AKA the 54th Street branch. The New Name of the line will be the Pink Line as a Trial for 6 month. Info Courdisey of Channel 7 in Chicago evening News.

[KevinKorell]

I'll have the courdisey (which translates to "courtesy" in English) to post a link to the following story. From the Chicago, IL Tribune, 3/30/06:

Add pink to the CTA's spectrum

The entries poured in, generating a few smiles and chuckles at CTA headquarters.

Pink received the most nominations, but some students favored hues that aren't even found in a 64-pack of Crayola crayons.

And it will be the first "pink" line anywhere in the USA or Canada among all the transit authorities that use colors to denote their routes. The story is here. Free registration required.

[AmtrakFan]

Mr. Korell,
Thanks for posting the link. Pink is kind of an odd color to name a transit line.

This post has been edited by AmtrakFan: Mar 31 2006, 01:37 AM

[KevinKorell]

The reason for the change in color for the Cermak Branch (the article I cited doesn't say it) is that it is going to be rerouted to run over what is currently non-revenue trackage on a viaduct and eventually connect with the Green Line, running around the elevated Loop.

Thus, the person in the last paragraph of the article who hoped that service to O'Hare Airport would be quicker had better think again. He is going to have to go inbound (east, north, and then east again) into the Loop, transfer at Lake Transfer to the Blue Line (which runs in the Dearborn Subway) and then go northwest to the airport. Currently he has a one-seat ride. And depending on whether the Pink line will operate clockwise or counter-clockwise in the Loop, one direction of his trip will be even longer as he will have to ride all the way around the Loop in the wrong direction.

[KevinKorell]

Come to think of it, now that CTA has broken the barrier, why not apply the name PINK to the future Reston-Dulles Airport branch of the Washington Metro, and to the proposed Exposition Line LRT in Los Angeles?

[KevinKorell]

CTA's own press release:

And the Color is…The Pink Line
CTA to Introduce Additional Rail Service with New Name for Six-Month Experiment Starting June 25

Today the Chicago Transit Board selected pink as the color for its new experimental rail service from more than 500 entries submitted by Chicagoland area students from kindergarten through eighth grade. At its February meeting, board members approved a six-month experimental period for an additional rail route on what is now the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line. Participating students were asked to nominate a color for the new line along with an essay explaining their choice and speaking to the importance of transit service to their community.

“The nominations we received were so creative and thoughtful, it was difficult to select just one color. However, after much thought, we selected pink for the new route,” said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Carole Brown.

“On behalf of the Chicago Transit Board and everyone at the Chicago Transit Authority, I would like to thank the over 500 students who participated in this contest and expressed how important public transit is to them,” said Chicago Transit Board member Cynthia Panayotovich.

Entries were submitted from throughout the region including Carol Stream, Villa Park, Brookfield, Calumet City, Cicero and Roselle. The CTA is the nation’s second largest public transit system, serving Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs. Nearly two million customers use some combination of CTA, Pace and Metra to get to and from destinations throughout the six-county region.

Chicago Transit Board member Pastor Charles Robinson added, “We also extend our gratitude to the teachers, administrators and parents who helped make this project a success. It’s encouraging to see such enthusiasm and creativity from our region’s students. And, of course, congratulations to the students who proposed pink!” Those students who nominated pink are now eligible to receive a $1,000 EE U.S. Savings Bond from the Board. One student from among those nominating pink will be selected to receive the bond later this spring.

The new Pink Line will connect the former 54th/Cermak Blue Line to the Loop via a restored section of track known as the Paulina Connector. Currently the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line serves customers along Cermak Avenue, turns near Paulina and joins the Forest Park branch along the Eisenhower Expressway to travel into the Loop through the Dearborn subway.

Instead of traveling through the subway, the new experimental service will reroute 54th/Cermak trains to the elevated tracks using the recently rehabilitated track near Paulina Street. Trains will continue to travel along Paulina via the new connector tracks and join the Green Line at Lake Street to travel into the Loop in a clockwise direction on the elevated track.

This reroute is designed to provide customers with increased and faster service. Direct service to the Loop elevated also means enhanced connections to the Orange, Brown and Green Lines, Purple Line Express service and Metra. During morning and evening rush hour commutes, customers will have the choice of the current 54th/Cermak Blue Line routing via the Dearborn subway or elevated service via the Paulina Connector.

The new Pink Line service is one of several experimental service enhancements planned for the West Side and West Suburbs based on the results of CTA’s West Side Corridor Study. A total of five new bus routes have been created – three express routes and two local routes – four existing bus routes are being extended and routing and schedule improvements are being made for four additional bus routes. Two current bus routes are being incorporated into other routes. Experimental bus service enhancements will take effect on Sunday, June 18.

In addition to the new Pink Line service, the frequency of service on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line will increase, especially during weekday off-peak hours and weekends. Customers who board trains on the Forest Park branch between the Medical Center and Forest Park will benefit from increased frequency of service at all times, including weekends, and improved access to CTA and Pace buses along the route.

Rail service to the O’Hare branch from 54th/Cermak via the Dearborn Street subway will be maintained during AM/PM rush hours. In addition, bus service on the #7 Harrison will provide connections between UIC’s east campus and the Illinois Medical District. Enhanced service to O’Hare will still be possible at other times through a free transfer at Clark and Lake.


# # #

So to clarify, during rush hours, a passenger originating on the Cermak Branch will be able to travel to the Loop via either the current Blue Line or the new Pink Line. Off peak hours, only the Pink Line will operate. It is during the latter that passengers will have to transfer between the Pink Line and the Blue Line at Lake Transfer to get to the Forest Park or O'Hare Branches.

Also of note is that twice (in 2003 and 2005) our Fest group was shut out of riding the Cermak Branch because of a late arrival in town on Amtrak. Most likely now when we finally get there we'll be riding it as the Pink Line. We still also have to do the Forest Park branch of the remaining Blue Line.