The CTA's Brown Line, formerly known as the Ravenswood. This line travels from Albany Park on the city's northwest side to the Loop, Chicago's central business district. This line is slower than many of the CTA's other lines, because its stops are so frequent.
The line operates from about 4:00 am to midnight daily. Between midnight and 4 am, the line only runs shuttle service between Kimball and Belmont. Passengers wishing to travel farther south must transfer to the Red Line at Belmont.
Work is currently underway to both expand capacity as well as increase accessibility. This work will result in various scheduled station closures. Certain stations will be closed for up to six months at a time, while in other situations, entire sections of the line will be shut down during weekends. Details on the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project, including a list of station closures can be found at http://ctabrownline.com/. During weekdays, customers whose station is closed should be able to walk to the next station in either direction (no two adjacent stations will be closed on weekdays), but on weekends, when groups of adjacent stations are closed, the CTA will run a free shuttle bus service.
Currently, only Kimball, Western, Merchandise Mart, Washington, Library, and State are wheelchair-accessible. Customers who require accessibility should also contact the CTA before riding (1.888.YOUR.CTA) to ensure that the elevators are working at the stations they wish to use.
The following is a text map of the Brown Line's route. It is not to scale. Traffic is two-way between Kimball and the Loop, and Brown Line trains go around the outside of the loop, traveling counter-clockwise. North is up. Stations are marked with either an o or a (T). The latter represents a free transfer station. Mouse-over the (T) to see which lines you can transfer to at that station. Stations that are closed for reconstruction are marked as X. Please note that these are only the stations that are closed 7 days a week. Stations with only weekend closures are not marked on this map; customers should check http://ctabrownline.com/ for more information.
F
R R
K A O W
I K N C E
M E C K S D
B D I W T A
A Z S E E M
L I C L R E
L E O L N N S
O
o-X-o-X-o-o-+ P U
| A T
MONTROSE o U H
| L P .
IRVING PARK o I O .
| N R .Red Line north to Howard
ADDISON o A T .Purple Line express to Howard, then local to Linden
| .
+-o-o--+
|
(T) BELMONT
|
WELLINGTON o
|
DIVERSEY o
|
(T) FULLERTON
|
ARMITAGE o
| Red Line goes subway
|
| SEDGEWICK (unused transfer platform from
+--o-+ Milwaukee/North Shore Line)
|
| C S
CHICAGO o L T
| A A
MERCHANDISE (T) R T
MART | K E
|
Green Line.....+-(T)(T)-+
west to Harlem/Lake | |
| o RANDOLPH
WASHINGTON (T) |
| o MADISON
| |
QUINCY o (T) ADAMS
| |
+-o--(T)-+
.
L L .
A I .Green Line south to Ashland/63rd/Englewood and East 63rd/Jackson Park
S B .Orange Line southwest to Midway Airport (MDW)
A R .
L A
L R
E Y
Things to note:
- All stations have some form of warming-shelter on their platforms. Usually, there is a bus-shelter with heat lamps. Though these are not the best in the world, they do provide some warmth and protection from the wind during the winter.
- Most stations have Pepsi vending machines (20 oz $1.00), and some also have convenience stores.
- The CTA uses electric trains, which run off of power from a third rail. Therefore, it is imperative that you stay off the tracks!
- All train cars have an intercom system to the motorman, located on a panel next to the wheelchair-accessible seat by the cab of each car. This can be used in an emergency, or by customers with disabilities to alert the motorman to wait until they have exited the train.
Sources: http://www.transitchicago.com, personal knowledge.