Editing Green Line (CTA) (section)

==Route==
{{multiple image
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 |image1 = Harlem and Lake station.jpeg
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 |caption1 = Harlem/Lake Green Line entrance in Forest Park/Oak Park (2015)
 |image2 = Lakeriver.jpg
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 |caption2 = The Lake Street Elevated bridge over the Chicago River at night (2005)
 |image3 = CTA Night.jpg
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 |caption3 = Northward view from the [[Adams/Wabash station|Adams/Wabash]] station at night (2009)
 |image4 = McCormick Tribune 060304.jpg
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 |caption4 = A southbound train passes over the [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center]] at the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]] (2006)
 |image5 = Ashland63 CTA.jpg
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 |caption5 = The Englewood branch's [[Ashland/63rd (CTA station)|Ashland/63rd]] station and terminal (2009)
 |image6 = Cottage Grove L Station (Chicago, USA).jpg
 |alt6 = 
 |caption6 = Cottage Grove station (2002)
}}

===Lake Street Elevated===
{{main|Lake Street Elevated}}
Beginning at the yard and inspection facilities in [[Forest Park, Illinois|Forest Park]], the Green Line runs east through [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]] towards the city on an embankment adjacent to [[Metra]]'s [[Union Pacific West Line]] tracks from the Harlem Avenue terminal, on the border of Oak Park and Forest Park, to a point just west of Laramie Avenue. Here, the Green Line tracks diverge from the railroad embankment and continue east on a steel elevated structure directly above Lake Street, a major east–west thoroughfare.

The "L" bridges a couple of railroad tracks (the [[Belt Railway of Chicago]]'s main line and Union Pacific's Rockwell Subdivision) before entering downtown Chicago at Clinton Street. East of Clinton Street, the route bridges [[Metra]]'s [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]] railroad tracks (which terminate just south of here at [[Ogilvie Transportation Center]]) and the [[Chicago River]] before joining the Union [[Chicago Loop|Loop]] "L" tracks at Wells Street.

===The Loop===
In downtown [[Chicago]], the Green Line operates over the famous [[The Loop (CTA)|Union Loop]] "L" structure along with [[Brown Line (CTA)|Brown Line]] (Ravenswood), [[Orange Line (CTA)|Orange Line]] (Midway), [[Pink Line (CTA)|Pink Line]] (Douglas) and [[Purple Line (CTA)|Purple Line Express]] (weekday rush hours only) trains. Green Line trains operate both ways over the Lake Street and Wabash Avenue sides only, and do not use the Wells Street and Van Buren Street sides of the Loop.

The Green Line is the only line in the "L" system that has two entry/exit points to the elevated Loop, the only "L" line that runs in both directions on the Loop, and the only route that uses the Loop but does not terminate there. Its route uses the Wabash and Lake sides of the Loop, which are also used by the Orange, Pink, Purple and Brown Lines, which operate around the Loop and then return to their route terminal.

===South Side Elevated===
{{main|South Side Elevated}}
Leaving the Loop at Tower 12, the tracks continue along Wabash Avenue and follows an "S" curve (which was realigned in 2002) to the west and south now following the alley between Wabash Avenue and State Street to 40th Street. This 3.8 mile section is the oldest part of Chicago's "L" system. On this segment, the Green Line shares tracks with the [[Orange Line (CTA)|Orange Line]] between the Loop and 17th Street. Passengers can transfer between the two lines at [[Roosevelt station (CTA)|Roosevelt/Wabash station]].

The other stations on this section are at {{stn|Cermak–McCormick Place}} and {{stn|35th–Bronzeville–IIT}}, adjacent to the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]] campus and the [[Chicago Police Department]] Headquarters. At 40th Street, the route turns east to Indiana station, then turns south between Calumet and Prairie Avenues to the [[Garfield station (CTA Green Line)|Garfield]] station and continues south to 59th Street where the route splits into two branches—the Englewood (Ashland/63rd) branch and the Jackson Park (East 63rd) branch. Prior to 1994 (and the Green Line's major renovation) the East 63rd branch extended as far east as Stony Island Avenue. It was shortened to University in 1982 and Cottage Grove in 1996.

====Ashland branch====
{{main|Ashland branch}}
The Ashland branch continues south and west following 59th Street, Princeton Avenue and 63rd Street to the Ashland terminal in [[West Englewood, Chicago|West Englewood]]. The yard and inspection shop lie to the south between the old Racine station and the Ashland/63rd terminal. The "L" tracks continues west to a stub end at Hermitage Avenue, a prediction for a future extension of the route westward, however, those plans were canceled in the late 1970s. Prior to 1992, the Englewood branch had two additional stops at Wentworth and Harvard, closed by the CTA for service cuts. Halsted/63rd is the only remaining stop on the {{convert|3.1|mi|km}} route.

The '''Englewood branch''' was permanently renamed the Ashland branch as of March 2013 according to the CTA.

====East 63rd branch====
{{main|East 63rd branch}}
The East 63rd branch continues south from the mainline between Calumet and Prairie Avenues, passing the old yard and inspection facilities at 61st Street in [[Washington Park (community area), Chicago|Washington Park]]. South of here, the route curves east over 63rd Street and follows it to the current terminal at Cottage Grove/63rd in [[Woodlawn, Chicago|Woodlawn]]. Prior to 1994, the Jackson Park branch of the Green Line once terminated at [[University station (CTA)|University/63rd]] and before that, at [[Jackson Park station (CTA)|Stony Island/63rd]] from 1893 until 1982. In addition to losing the University/63rd station, the Jackson Park branch also lost the [[61st station|61st Street station]] and the [[58th station|58th Street station]] in 1994.