Editing Green Line (CTA) (section)

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2024}}
[[File:CTA loop junction.jpg|thumb|[[Chicago Transit Authority]] [[signal tower]] 18 guides [[Chicago "L"]] trains, north and southbound [[Purple Line (CTA)|Purple]] and [[Brown Line (CTA)|Brown]] lines intersecting with east and westbound [[Pink Line (CTA)|Pink]] and Green lines and the [[Orange Line (CTA)|Orange Line]] above the [[Wells Street (Chicago)|Wells]] and [[Lake Street (Chicago)|Lake street]] [[intersection (road)|intersection]] in the [[The Loop (CTA)|Loop]].]]

The Green Line operates over the two oldest sections of the [[Chicago "L"]]. The South Side section started operation in 1892 when Chicago was preparing for the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] of 1893 in Jackson Park. The initial section was built to provide inexpensive mass transportation service between downtown Chicago and the exposition site. This first section of the [[South Side Elevated Railroad|Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad]] between Wabash Avenue and [[State Street (Chicago)|State Street]] went into service on June 6, 1892.<ref name="L open">{{cite news|title=Running on the "L."|date=June 7, 1892|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=9}}</ref> It extended from Congress Street only as far south as 39th Street (Pershing Road). At that time a large part of the south side was little more than prairie, but by May 1, 1893, when the pioneer "L" line was completed to Jackson Park, construction of homes, apartment buildings and commercial properties was booming in the area.

Continued expansion of the area development was reflected in construction of the [[Ashland branch|Englewood]], [[Normal Park branch|Normal Park]], [[Kenwood branch (CTA)|Kenwood]] and [[Stock Yards branch (CTA)|Stock Yards branch]]es of the South Side "L" between 1905 and 1908. Of these, only the Englewood and Jackson Park branches remain: because of insufficient patronage, the Normal Park, Stock Yards and Kenwood branches were closed in the 1950s.

[[Image:CTA Ashland 050716.jpg|thumb|View from [[Ashland station (CTA Green and Pink Lines)|Ashland station]] along the Lake Street section of the Green Line (2005)]]
[[File:Chicago 2005 marathon.jpg|thumb|Green Line elevated tracks crossing Franklin Street in the Loop (2005)]]
[[File:Chicago L diagram sb.svg|thumb|[[Chicago Transit Authority]] [[Chicago "L"]] route map]]

The [[Lake Street Elevated Railroad|Lake Street Elevated]] was Chicago's second rapid transit line. It began operation from a terminal at [[Madison Street (Chicago)|Madison]] and [[Wacker Drive|Market]] streets to Lake Street and California Avenue on November 6, 1893.<ref name="Lake open">{{cite news|title=Crowds on Lake Street "L."|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=November 7, 1893|page=8}}</ref> The line was gradually extended westward to Laramie Avenue on April 29, 1894; to Austin Avenue on April 15, 1899;<ref name="Lake to Austin">{{cite news|title=Austin Hails Five-Cent Fares|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=April 15, 1899|page=5}}</ref> to Wisconsin Avenue, [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]] using street railway trackage on May 15, 1899 (closed in 1902), and to Marengo Avenue, [[Forest Park, Illinois|Forest Park]], on May 14, 1910.

The construction of the Lake Street Elevated led to a political quarrel in west suburban [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]], which at the time included Oak Park and [[Austin, Chicago|Austin]]. In 1898, Austinites, having a majority on Cicero's town council, used political influence to allow the extension of the Lake Street line from the city border at Laramie Avenue (then called 52nd Avenue) into their community. This infuriated other Cicero residents, who retaliated the following year by holding a joint election to force Austin's annexation to the City of Chicago. Much to the dismay of local residents, this effort succeeded, and Austin became part of Chicago in 1899. A century later, Oak Park commuters, who had come to depend on the service, were among the most vocal critics of the Green Line's closure for rehabilitation.

From 1913 until 1993, the Englewood and Jackson Park branches were part of the [[Red Line (CTA)|North–South Route]] in various service configurations operating from the north side through the Loop and to the south side. On October 17, 1943, the Englewood and Jackson Park services were rerouted into the [[State Street subway]] to provide improved crosstown access through the heart of city and to alleviate congestion on the over-crowded Union Loop Elevated. On July 31, 1949, during the north–south rapid transit service revision by the CTA, the Howard–Englewood/Jackson Park route was created, operating via the State Street subway, using the 13th Street portal.

On May 6, 1969, the Englewood branch was extended to the current [[Ashland/63rd (CTA station)|Ashland Avenue-West Englewood]] Terminal, replacing the outmoded facilities at the 1907-built Loomis station which were demolished. On December 12, 1982, the Jackson Park branch was shortened to University because of structural deterioration at the Dorchester Bridge which carried the route across the [[Illinois Central Railroad]] to the former Stony Island/63rd terminal which closed on March 4, 1982, and was later demolished.

The Lake Street "L" would remain largely unchanged until 1948, when a number of its historic passenger stations were closed and demolished in an attempt to promote the "A" and "B" skip-stop express train service to speed up traffic flow. On October 28, 1962, the western two and one-half mile section of the line which operated at street level was elevated along the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad right-of-way opening new elevated stops at [[Central station (CTA Green Line)|Central]], [[Austin station (CTA Green Line)|Austin]], [[Ridgeland station|Ridgeland]], [[Oak Park station (CTA Green Line)|Oak Park]], and [[Harlem/Lake station|Harlem]].

In September 1969, the Lake Street "L" was united with the new Dan Ryan Line to form the [[Lake&ndash;Dan Ryan Line|West–South Route]] (Lake-Dan Ryan), operating from [[Forest Park, Illinois|Forest Park]] through downtown via the Union Loop "L" to {{stn|95th/Dan Ryan}}. The Lake–Dan Ryan routing was to fulfill the service implementation outlined in the 1968 [[Chicago Central Area Transit Plan]]. However, when that subway project was canceled in 1979, Lake–Dan Ryan service remained and lasted for 24 years.

In February 1993, the South Side sections of the North–South and West–South Routes were "switched" south of [[Roosevelt Road]], creating the current Red Line (Howard–Dan Ryan) and the Green Line (Lake–Englewood/Jackson Park). After the reconfiguration, both the Red and Green Lines lost their "A" and "B" skip-stop service and began serving all stations at all times. As stated earlier, the Green Line's routing united the two oldest segments of Chicago's "L"-Subway rail network.

In January 1994, the Green Line closed for the largest transit rehabilitation project in the city's history. The Green Line reopened on May 12, 1996, with much of the renewal work completed and with the exception of a few stations. Six stations (Homan, Halsted, 58th, 61st, University, and Racine) were closed permanently following the rehabilitation project, which angered many commuters who depend on the Green Line.

In September 1997, after political pressure brought on by community leaders, the Jackson Park branch was shortened again from University to Cottage Grove after previous attempts by the city, CTA, and other agencies to extend the route eastward to Dorchester, immediately west of the [[Illinois Central Railroad]]. This had seemed logical to the Dorchester Terminal, due to the fact that the [[Metra Electric District]] and [[South Shore Line]] both share a station along the IC [[Right of way|ROW]], at [[63rd Street station (Metra)|63rd Street]].

In April 1998, the Green Line, like the [[Purple Line (CTA)|Purple Line]] and the Douglas branch of the [[Blue Line (CTA)|Blue Line]] (now the [[Pink Line (CTA)|Pink Line]]) lost its 24-hour service due to budget cuts, and operates only between the hours of 4&nbsp;a.m. and 1&nbsp;a.m weekdays.

===Incidents===
On February 4, 1977, an accident occurred on the sharp left-hand curve at Wabash/Lake. Two trains were involved, one was the [[Brown Line (CTA)|Ravenswood Line]] with the second being the Lake-Dan Ryan Line. The Ravenswood train was stopped waiting for the clearance to proceed. The motorman of the Lake-Dan Ryan train failed to see the signals warning him of a stopped train. What occurred was a rear-end collision, the initial collision was only minor. However the motorman continued to apply power forward; which led to three cars being pushed off the elevated tracks to the street below. The fourth car was dangling while still attached to the other four cars on the track. Eleven deaths were reported with more than 180 injuries.<ref>{{Cite book|title = CTA at 45|last1 = Krambles|first1 = George|publisher = Published for the George Krambles Transit Scholarship Foundation|year = 1993|isbn = 9780963796547|location = Oak Park, IL, U.S.A|pages = 116|last2 = Peterson|first2 = Arthur H.}}</ref>

On May 28, 2008, a derailment was reported, with approximately 24 injuries. Two train cars on the four-car train appeared to be derailed, with the leading car abutting the one behind it at an angle of approximately 150 degrees. The train cars were separated at a switching point near 59th Street.<ref>{{Cite web |last=National Transportation Safety Board |date=May 28, 2008 |title=Railroad Accident Brief, Accident No.: DCA-08-FR-006 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB1102.pdf}}</ref>

On August 5, 2015, a derailment was reported near 63rd and Calumet in Chicago's Washington Park neighborhood. The train derailed around 2:40&nbsp;p.m., the third of the four-car train was the one to derail. No one was injured, firefighters had to help over 80 passengers off the train; two of which were in wheelchairs. Service was suspended between the Cottage Grove and Garfield stops. Service was back to normal in the affected stops around 7:15&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{Cite web|title = CTA Green Line train derails at 63rd, Calumet|url = http://abc7chicago.com/traffic/cta-green-line-train-derails-at-63rd-calumet/904999/|website = ABC7 Chicago|access-date = 2015-08-05}}</ref>

On June 6, 2019, a Green Line train derailed near the 47th station, injuring seven people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/6/6/18655395/green-line-train-derails-bronzeville-47th|title = Full service restored on Green Line after derailment injures 7 on South Side|date = 6 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/green-line-cta-chicago-transit-authority-510917481.html|title=7 Hurt, 30 Passengers Rescued in Derailment on CTA's Green Line: CFD}}</ref>