Blue line branch to close
CERMAK BRANCH TO CLOSE | Part of CTA's experiment on W. Side

March 13, 2008
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation Reporter mwisniewski (at) suntimes.com

The CTA will cut the 54th/Cermak branch of the Blue Line, which runs west to Cicero, citing low ridership.

The elimination of the Blue Line branch, which goes into effect April 27, is part of a six-month experiment to reallocate West Side service. Extra service will be added to the Green Line and the other two branches of the Blue Line -- the east-west Forest Park branch and the O'Hare line going northwest. More West Side bus service is also planned.

Pink Line trains will cover most of the affected 54th/Cermak route and will take West Side riders to and from downtown.

But riders who use the 54th/Cermak Blue Line to go to the University of Illinois at Chicago campus will have to either switch to the Forest Park branch or get off at Polk on the Pink Line and take the No. 7 Harrison bus.

Also affected will be Cicero and West Side residents who take the Blue Line to jobs at O'Hare -- they'll have to take the Forest Park branch or transfer to an O'Hare-bound train downtown.

"This is a service enhancement to the West Side," said CTA President Ron Huberman after the board approved the change Wednesday. He said Pink Line trains have "plenty of room" for Blue Line riders.

The 54th/Cermak Blue Line trains currently run every 30 minutes during rush hour and have six to eight people per car, Huberman said. At the end of six months, the CTA will decide whether to make the changes permanent.

Jaime Alamillo, 20, and his sister Emma, 22, who were waiting for a bus by the 54th/Cermak station in Cicero, said they won't be affected much by the change -- they'll just take the Pink Line downtown. But it will be tough on their father, Juan Alamillo, who works near O'Hare International Airport.

"He's going to be pretty upset," said Jaime Alamillo.

The Pink Line started rolling in June 2006. Blue Line trains from 54th/Cermak enter the Loop underground after joining the Forest Park branch near Racine. The Pink Line goes north along elevated tracks to Lake before going downtown.

Huberman said ridership on West Side bus and rail routes had grown since 2006. In October, 2007, rail ridership on the West Side was up 5.7 percent compared with the same month in the previous year. Overall, the rest of the system saw a 2.4 percent decrease.

The CTA also plans to improve 13 bus routes. The improvements include extending evening service on the No. 7 Harrison and No. 65 Grand and making service more frequent on the No. 12 Roosevelt.

Six Hyde Park routes subsidized by the University of Chicago will be made permanent, including a route from the university to Lake View.