Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad

Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad
A train on the Metropolitan main line passes over the Chicago river.
Overview
Locale	Chicago, Illinois
Service
Type	Rapid transit
Services	Logan Square Humboldt Park Garfield Park Douglas Park
Operator(s)	Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company (1895–1899) Metropolitan West side Elevated Railway (1899–1924)
History
Opened	May 6, 1895; 129 years ago (1895-05-06)[1]
Closed	1924; 100 years ago (1924) (merged into Chicago Rapid Transit Company)
Technical
Character	Elevated
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 600 V DC
Route map Legend Wells Street Terminal to Loop Franklin Terminal Franklin/ Van Buren Canal Halsted Racine Laflin Marshfield Logan Square Garfield Park Douglas Park Madison Polk Lake Street Transfer Roosevelt Grand Ogden Chicago 14th Place Division Hoyne Robey 18th Street Humboldt Park Western Western Western California California Logan Square Humboldt Park Kedzie Wood Ballou California Lawndale Hoyne Sacramento Western Kedzie California St. Louis Douglas Park Garfield Park Kedzie Crawford Homan Tripp Clifton Park Kilbourn Lawndale Cicero Crawford Laramie Kildare Central Kenton Austin 48th Avenue Lombard 50th Avenue Gunderson 52nd Avenue Oak Park 54th Avenue Home 56th Avenue Harlem 58th Avenue Hannah Austin Des Plaines 62nd Avenue Concordia Cemetery Waldheim Cemetery Des Plaines River Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad Metropolitan "L" trackage Chicago Aurora & Elgin trackage Metropolitan "L" trackage rights This diagram: view talk edit

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (known as the Met or Polly "L"^[2]) was the third elevated rapid transit line to be built in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first of Chicago’s elevated lines to be electrically powered. The main line ran from downtown Chicago to Marshfield Avenue, with branches to Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Douglas Park (eventually extended to the suburb of Berwyn, Illinois). Portions of the system are still operated as sections of the Blue Line and the Pink Line.

At 6:00 am on May 7, 1895, the first train of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated left the Robey Street station bound for the downtown terminal at Canal.^[1]

In 1913, Chicago's four elevated railroad companies came together to form the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust establishing crosstown services for the first time. In 1924 all four companies were formally united to form the Chicago Rapid Transit Company.^[3] The Chicago Transit Authority took over the assets of the CRT in 1947. In 1951, the Logan Square branch was rerouted into the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway, and the Humboldt Park Branch was cut back to a shuttle to Damen Avenue. The Humboldt Park branch would be discontinued a year later.

In 1952, the Douglas branch was shortened to its current terminal at 54th/Cermak^[4] and the Humboldt Park branch was closed.^[5] The construction of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) required the demolition of the Garfield Park branch and the Main Line but also called for a replacement rapid transit line in the median of the expressway. In 1958, the Garfield Park Branch was replaced by the new Congress Line.^[6]

Much of the Metropolitan still operates today, with the Blue Line using a portion of the Logan Square branch on its way to O'Hare International Airport, as well as the Congress Line that replaced the Garfield Park Branch. The Douglas Park Branch, operated as a branch of the Blue Line from 1958 to 2008, is now operated as the Pink Line.

• Metropolitan West Side Elevated Company System Map