Brown Line (CTA)

Brown Line
A Brown Line train of 3200 series cars
Overview
Status	Operating
Locale	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Termini	Kimball The Loop, Belmont
Stations	27
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Chicago "L"
Operator(s)	Chicago Transit Authority
Depot(s)	Kimball Yard
Rolling stock	Mixed 2600-series and 3200-series 8 car trains (typical, maximum)
Daily ridership	33,302 (avg. weekday in 2023)[1]
History
Opened	August 1, 1949 (Current operation)
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Character	Elevated and At-Grade Level
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Minimum radius	90 feet (27 m)
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Operating speed	40 mph (64 km/h)
Route map Brown Line highlighted in brown Show interactive map Legend Kimball Kedzie Francisco Chicago River North Branch Rockwell Western UP-N to Kenosha Damen Ravenswood Montrose Irving Park Addison UP-N to Ogilvie Paulina Southport Purple Express to Linden Red to Howard ■ Belmont Wellington Diversey ■ Fullerton Armitage Sedgwick Chicago Grand demolished 1970 Merchandise Mart Chicago River Clark/Lake State/Lake Blue to O'Hare ■ Lake Randolph/Wells closed 1995 Randolph/Wabash demolished 2017 Washington/​Wells Washington/ Wabash Madison/Wells demolished 1994 Madison/Wabash demolished 2015 Quincy Adams/Wabash LaSalle/Van Buren Library Blue to Forest Park Red to 95th/Dan Ryan Bus connections at all open stations except Kedzie, Francisco, Rockwell, Southport, and Wellington. This diagram: view talk edit Show BSicon diagram map

The Brown Line of the Chicago "L" system, is an 11.4-mile (18.3 km) route with 27 stations between Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is almost entirely grade-separated. It is the third-busiest 'L' route, with an average of 33,302 passengers boarding each weekday in 2023.^[2]

Before CTA lines were color-coded in 1993, the Brown Line was known as the Ravenswood Route; specifically, the series of stations from Belmont to Kimball were called the Ravenswood branch. Accordingly, the Kimball-Belmont shuttle service was called the Ravenswood Shuttle.

A Brown Line train crosses the north branch of the Chicago River.

Between Rockwell and Western stations a ramp carries Brown Line trains from ground-level to elevated tracks.

Northward view from Adams/Wabash station

Brown and Orange line trains contend for the junction at the southeast corner of the Chicago Loop. Photographed from the Adams/Wabash crossover walkway on the Green, Orange, Brown and Purple lines.

Chicago Transit Authority control tower 18 guides elevated Chicago 'L' north and southbound Purple and Brown lines intersecting with east and westbound Pink and Green lines and the looping Orange line above the Wells and Lake street intersection in the loop.

The Brown Line begins on the northwest side of Chicago, at the Kimball terminal in Albany Park, where there is a storage yard and servicing shop for the trains to the east of the passenger station. From there, trains operate over street level tracks between Leland and Eastwood Avenues to Rockwell, then ramp up to the elevated structure for the rest of the trip.

The trains on the street-level section are powered by third rail rather than overhead catenary (the technology used by most other U.S. electric-powered at-grade rail systems), a decision that exposes wayward pedestrians to the risk of electrocution. A fatal accident in 1977 involving an intoxicated man, who did not speak English and was unable to read the posted warning signage, attempted to urinate on the third rail at the Kedzie station eventually resulted in an Illinois Supreme Court decision in 1992 affirming a verdict of $1.5 million against CTA.^[3]

After the Damen station, the route turns south, about one-half block parallel and west of Metra's Union Pacific North railroad line and Ravenswood Avenue to a point south of the Addison station. Here the route turns east again and runs parallel to Roscoe Street past Sheffield Avenue where it once again turns south at Clark Junction to join the four-track North Side elevated line in Lakeview. From just north of Belmont station south to Armitage, Brown and Red Line trains operate side by side, with Purple Line Express trains sharing the tracks with the Brown Line during weekday rush hours. Brown and Purple Line trains run on the outermost tracks serving five stops, while Red Line trains run on the innermost tracks making only two stops.

South of the Armitage station, Brown and Purple Line trains continue southward towards the Chicago Loop on elevated tracks which zigzags its way through the neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Near North Side stopping at Sedgwick and Chicago. Running over Franklin, then Wells Street, a stop is made at the Merchandise Mart before crossing the Chicago River on the upper level of the Wells Street Bridge before joining the Loop Elevated at Lake Street. Operating counter-clockwise, Brown Line trains operate around the Loop on the Outer track via Wells-Van Buren-Wabash-Lake, serving all Loop stations, before the return trip back north to the Kimball terminal.

There are three sections of the Brown Line which includes the Ravenswood Branch that connects from Kimball Avenue station to Belmont Avenue station; merging from the Purple Line Express. Another is the North Side Main Line which connects from Belmont Avenue station to the Merchandise Mart before entering the Loop. The Brown Line enters the loop going counter-clockwise from Washington/​Wells to Clark/Lake and then exits the loop, heading towards the Kimball Avenue station.

The Brown Line operates between Kimball and the Loop weekdays and Saturdays from 4 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. and on Sundays from 5 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. The Brown Line Shuttle service runs only between Kimball and Belmont between 1:30 a.m. and 2:25 a.m. At Belmont, southbound riders can transfer to the 24-hour Red Line. On weekdays, service runs between three and eight minutes during rush hour, seven to eight minutes during midday, then six to twelve minutes during nighttime.

On weekends, early morning service operates every fifteen minutes, then increases to seven to eight minutes on Saturdays during the day and ten minutes on Sundays during the day, then at nighttime every ten to twelve minutes. Late night service operates every fifteen minutes until the end of service, although late night trips from Kimball to Belmont stations operate every half hour Monday thru Saturday nights.

During morning rush hour, several Brown Line trains bound for the Loop continue toward the Orange Line after stopping at the Harold Washington Library station; whereas several Orange Line trains bound for Kimball continue as the Brown Line after stopping at Adams/Wabash station.^[4] While this service does not have an official name, the CTA internally refers to it as the Tiger Line (due to the two colors resembling the stripes of a tiger).^[5]

The Brown Line is operated with the 2600-series and 3200-series railcars. The Brown Line operates using eight cars during weekday rush hours and four cars at other times. In the meantime, CTA has completed the process of overhauling the 3200-series cars with color LED destination signs (similar to the 5000-series cars), new air conditioning systems, rebuilt propulsion systems, passenger door motors, and wheel/axle assemblies. The 3200-series rehabilitation began in 2015 and was completed in 2018. Later that year, some of the Brown Line's 3200-series cars were transferred to the Blue Line, with some of the Orange Line's 2600-series cars being transferred to the Brown Line.

Beginning in March 2008, the Brown Line began running eight cars during rush hours, since all of the reopened or renovated stations have been rebuilt to accommodate eight cars.^[6] Prior to this, most stations on the line couldn't berth longer than six cars. Early morning, midday, late evening, and weekend service is generally provided by four cars, although this may be extended to eight cars due to special events and holidays.

The Northwestern Elevated Railroad opened the line, originally known as the Ravenswood line, between the existing main line and Western Avenue in Lincoln Square on May 18, 1907.^[7] The route was completed to the Kimball terminal on December 14, 1907.^[8]

The Kimball terminal was completely renovated and a new bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River was completed in the 1970s. The Western and Merchandise Mart stations were rebuilt in the 1980s. Prior to the start of the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project, these two stations, along with the Kimball terminal were the only ADA accessible stations on the Brown Line outside of the Loop.

The Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project which ran from 2004 to 2009 was undertaken to repair aging infrastructure and increase passenger capacity.^[9] Work on the project began in late 2004 with signal upgrades, particularity at Clark Junction.^[10] In February 2006, station reconstruction began with right-of-way modernization between Kimball and Rockwell Avenue. Traction power equipment and train control systems were upgraded and a new fiber optic communication network installed.^[11]

Brown Line stations were rebuilt or modified meet ADA compliance and to accommodate eight-car trains, increasing from the previous maximum of six-cars. Merchandise Mart was the only station not to receive any work as it had previously been reconstructed from 1987 to 1988, and was already ADA compliant and able to accommodate eight-car trains. Two stations, Kimball and Western, received small platform extensions but little other work, and the other 16 stations were completely rebuilt.^[12]

The first two stations to be completed, Kedzie and Rockwell, reopened on August 16, 2006,^[13] and all of the stations had reopened by July 30, 2009, when the new Wellington station entered service.^[14] The project was completed on December 31, 2009.^[15]

The Red & Purple Modernization Project includes a redesign of a diamond junction north of Belmont Station into a flyover allowing Brown Line trains going north to circumnavigate crossings with Red and Purple Line trains. The project decreased train backups and increased the number of trains that can cross the junction per hour.^[16] The project was criticized by 2015 mayoral candidate Chuy García and local residents in the Lakeview neighborhood who organized a referendum to stop it.^[17][18]

The Federal Transit Administration passed the CTA's environmental review on the bypass in January 2016 and received a $1.1 billion federal grant the following year.^[19][20] Sixteen properties affected by the bypass were demolished, while the historic Vautravers Building was relocated 30 feet west to preserve it.^[21] Construction on the bypass began on October 2, 2019,^[22][23][24] and the bypass was opened to its first train at 4 a.m. on November 19, 2021.^[25][26]

Neighborhood	Station	Connections
Albany Park	Kimball	CTA Bus: 81, 82, 93
	Kedzie
	Francisco
Lincoln Square	Rockwell
	Western	CTA Bus: 11, 49, 49B, X49
	Damen	Metra: ■ Union Pacific North (at Ravenswood) CTA Bus: 50
	Ravenswood	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
Lincoln Square/ North Center	Montrose	CTA Bus: 78
North Center	Irving Park	CTA Bus: 80
	Addison	CTA Bus: 152
Lake View	Paulina	CTA Bus: 9
	Southport
	Belmont	CTA 'L' trains: Red Purple CTA Bus: 22, 77
	Wellington
Lincoln Park	Diversey	CTA Bus: 76
	Wrightwood	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
	Fullerton	CTA 'L' trains: Red Purple CTA Bus: 37, 74
	Webster	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
	Armitage	CTA Bus: 73
	Willow	Closed May 17, 1942; demolished
	Halsted	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
Near North Side	Larrabee	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
	Sedgwick	CTA Bus: N9, 37, 72
	Schiller	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
	Division	Closed August 1, 1949; demolished
	Oak	Closed July 31, 1949; demolished
	Chicago	CTA Bus: 37, 66
	Grand	Closed September 20, 1970; demolished
	Kinzie	Closed 1921; demolished; replaced by Grand
	Merchandise Mart	CTA 'L' trains: Purple CTA Bus: 37, 125
The Loop	Randolph/Wells	Closed July 17, 1995; partially demolished and replaced by Washington/Wells
	Washington/​Wells (outer platform)	CTA 'L' trains: Orange Purple Pink Metra: ■ Union Pacific North, ■ Union Pacific Northwest, ■ Union Pacific West (at Ogilvie Transportation Center) CTA Bus: J14, 20, 37, 56, 60, 124, 157
	Madison/Wells	Closed January 30, 1994; demolished and replaced by Washington/Wells
	Quincy (outer platform)	Metra: ■ BNSF, ■ Heritage Corridor, ■ Milwaukee District North, ■ Milwaukee District West, ■ North Central Service, ■ SouthWest Service (at Union Station) Amtrak long-distance: California Zephyr, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder, Floridian, Lake Shore Limited, Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle (at Union Station) Amtrak intercity: Blue Water, Borealis, Hiawatha, Illini and Saluki, Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Pere Marquette, Wolverine (at Union Station) CTA Bus: 1, 7, 28, 37, 126, 130, 151, 156
	LaSalle/Van Buren (outer platform)	Metra trains: ■ Rock Island (at LaSalle Street) CTA Bus: 22, 24, 36, 130
	Harold Washington Library (outer platform)	CTA 'L' trains: Orange Purple Pink Red (at Jackson), Blue (at Jackson) CTA Bus: 2, 6, 10, 22, 24, 29, 36, 62, 146, 147
	Adams/Wabash (outer platform)	CTA 'L' trains: Orange Green Purple Pink CTA Bus: 1, 7, 28, 126, 151
	Madison/Wabash	Closed March 16, 2015; demolished and replaced by Washington/Wabash.
	Washington/​Wabash (outer platform)	Metra: ■ Metra Electric (at Millennium Station) NICTD: South Shore Line (at Millennium Station) CTA Bus: J14, 20, 56, 60, 124, 147, 151, 157
	Randolph/Wabash	Closed September 3, 2017; demolished and replaced by Washington/Wabash.
	State/Lake (outer platform)	CTA 'L' trains: Red (at Lake) CTA Bus: 2, 6, 10, 29, 36, 62, 146
	Clark/Lake (outer platform)	CTA 'L' trains: Blue Green Purple Orange Pink CTA Bus: 22, 24, 134, 135, 136, 156

• Note: After stopping at Clark/Lake, Brown Line trains return to Merchandise Mart, then make all stops back to Kimball.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CTA Brown Line.

• Brown Line at CTA official site