Chicago El

Re: Gov't Center Station Rebuild

vanshnookenraggen said:
I've never understood this. Just one huge platform with closed off sections?
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They aren't even closed off. In the Dearborn Street (CTA - Blue Line) subway they essentially hollowed out a one long straight section under Deaborn St. It is really just one long station with a center island platform. There are stairs/escalators in the middle of the platforms that break up the "station" into five identical stations, but there is plenty of clearance to walk down the platforms from station to station (although VERY few people ever do this). Let's call these five stations A-B-C-D-E:

A, C, and E are in service as Washington, Monroe, and Jackson. B and D appear as ghost stations, sandwiched between in-service stations. They look just like Washington, Monroe, and Jackson - same dimensions, platform stripes, trash cans, benches, lighting, etc. - without any signage. Occasionally you'll see skateboarders messing around in there. It's quite odd.
 
Re: Gov't Center Station Rebuild

vanshnookenraggen said:
But why?!
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Haha. I'm not sure. The Red Line (under State Street) also has the long continuous platform, and I'm pretty sure one is the longest in the world and the other is the second longest in the world. I'm more familiar with the Blue Line because I've ridden it way more, but I know they both have them. I'll ask a knowledgeable Chicago friend of mine who may know the answer.
 
Re: Gov't Center Station Rebuild

Why were the (now) Blue and Red Line subways in downtown Chicago built that way? I've never heard an answer for that.

The Red Line platform is/was 3500 feet long (the Blue Line platform is somewhat shorter). Stopping patterns have changed over the years, but for many years there were 8 station mezzanines located mid-block on a 9-block stretch of State Street (for the Red Line), with the 3 north mezzanines serving Washington/State, the 2 middle mezzanines serving Monroe/State, and the 3 south mezzanines serving Jackson/State. A number of years ago, Lake/State was added as a 4th stopping point at the northern end, and then at some point Washington/State was closed, so the Red Line/State Street platform is no longer open continuously from north to south.

The Blue Line/Dearborn Street platform is shorter and has 6 mid-block mezzanines on a 7-block stretch of Dearborn Street, with each "station" (Washington/Dearborn, Monroe/Dearborn, and Jackson/Dearborn) served by 2 mezzanines.
 
Re: Gov't Center Station Rebuild

EricS said:
Why were the (now) Blue and Red Line subways in downtown Chicago built that way? I've never heard an answer for that.

The Red Line platform is/was 3500 feet long (the Blue Line platform is somewhat shorter). Stopping patterns have changed over the years, but for many years there were 8 station mezzanines located mid-block on a 9-block stretch of State Street (for the Red Line), with the 3 north mezzanines serving Washington/State, the 2 middle mezzanines serving Monroe/State, and the 3 south mezzanines serving Jackson/State. A number of years ago, Lake/State was added as a 4th stopping point at the northern end, and then at some point Washington/State was closed, so the Red Line/State Street platform is no longer open continuously from north to south.

The Blue Line/Dearborn Street platform is shorter and has 6 mid-block mezzanines on a 7-block stretch of Dearborn Street, with each "station" (Washington/Dearborn, Monroe/Dearborn, and Jackson/Dearborn) served by 2 mezzanines.
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I don't have an official answer to your question, but those subway tunnels are actually very handy when you just want to walk underground for a few blocks to avoid the cold. I used to do it quite often when I had an annual pass in the winter.
 
Last time I was in Chicago I enjoyed much of the underground pedestrian routes throughout the city. I love stuff like that.
 
In a brief search I can't find an explanation for why the platforms go end-to-end, but you might find it if you look here. The CTA is blessed with an amazing fansite.

http://www.chicago-l.org/
 
Very interesting indeed:

Red-Subway.jpg


Blue-Subway.jpg
 
In many ways, they duplicated below what they can do (and have done) on the Loop above: moving, combining, and lengthening stations at will. Somehow Chicago concluded that they should have the freedom to move stations easily along their tracks.

My gut is that it served 4 purposes:
1) Never to have to rebuild the stations in order to lengthen trains
2) Always to be able to add a staircase to meet demand at a specific spot
3) Never to have to fully-close a station, only its exits or its platform but not both
4)To create an all-weather passage
 
The Chicago El cars have a nice front window you can sit next to if it's available. Great view of the city.
 
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