Chicago Rapid Transit Company

Chicago Rapid Transit Company
A Chicago Rapid Transit (CRT) pin for employees
Overview
Locale	Chicago, Illinois
Service
Type	Rapid transit
History
Opened	1924 (1924)
Closed	1947 (1947) (merged into Chicago Transit Authority)
Technical
Character	Elevated
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, trolley wire 600 V DC
Route map North Shore Line to Milwaukee Linden Dempster North Shore Line to Milwaukee Main Isabella Oakton Central Kostner Noyes Crawford– East Prairie Foster Dodge Davis Asbury Dempster Ridge Main Kimball South Boulevard Kedzie Niles Center Evanston Francisco Howard Rockwell Jarvis Western Morse Damen Loyola Granville Forest Park Thorndale Marion Bryn Mawr Oak Park Berwyn Ridgeland Argyle Lombard Lawrence Austin Wilson Menard C&E (freight) Central Buena Laramie Ravenswood Cicero Montrose Kostner Irving Park Pulaski Addison Hamlin Paulina Homan Southport Kedzie Sheridan Sacramento Grace California Addison Lawndale Clark St. Louis Ravenswood Kedzie Belmont Humboldt Park Wellington Logan Square Diversey California | California Wrightwood Western | Western Fullerton Humboldt Park Webster Damen Armitage Division State Street subway Chicago North/Clybourn Grand Halsted Campbell Larrabee Oakley Sedgwick Damen Schiller Lake St. Transfer Division Ashland Clark/Division Loomis Oak Racine Chicago | Chicago Morgan Grand | Grand Halsted Merchandise Mart Clinton North Water Terminal Clark/Lake State/Lake Randolph/Wells Randolph/Wabash Randolph/Market Washington Madison | Madison/Wells Madison/Wabash Market Street Terminal Monroe Quincy Adams/Wabash Wells Street Terminal Jackson Franklin/ Van Buren | LaSalle/ Van Buren Dearborn–State /Van Buren Canal Congress/Wabash Halsted Congress Terminal Racine Harrison Laflin Roosevelt Marshfield Logan Square Metropolitan main State Street subway Garfield Park | Douglas Polk 18th Roosevelt Cermak 14th Place 26th 18th 29th Ogden 31st Hoyne | Hoyne 33rd Western | Western 35th California | California Swift Sacramento Packers Douglas Park Racine Kedzie | Kedzie Armour Homan Pershing Drake Exchange Lawndale Halsted Garfield Park Wallace Pulaski | Pulaski Stock Yards Tripp Indiana Kildare Kenwood Kilbourn South Parkway Kenton Vincennes Cicero | 48th Avenue Cottage Grove/Drexel 50th Avenue Ellis/Lake Park Laramie | 52nd Avenue 42nd Place 54th Avenue 43rd Central | 56th Avenue 47th 58th Avenue 51st Austin | Austin Garfield Lombard | Lombard 58th Ridgeland Englewood Jackson Park Gunderson 61st Oak Park | Oak Park King Drive Home Cottage Grove Harlem University Hannah Dorchester Desplaines Jackson Park 5th Avenue State 11th Avenue Wentworth 17th Avenue Princeton 25th Avenue Harvard Bellwood Normal Park 65th Street CA&E to Fox River cities Marquette Road 69th Street Harrison Parnell Roosevelt Halsted Canterbury Racine Mannheim/22nd Loomis Key Interurban lines Freight line "L" lines Source

The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois, and several adjacent communities between 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago's current mass transit operator.

History

Leading up to the consolidation of the 'L' companies into the CRT was decades of the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust (CER), an entity directly attributed to utilities magnate Samuel Insull. The CER laid the groundwork for the companies to become one, including financial agreements and simplification that allowed for free transfers between the various lines at the places where they shared facilities, such as at Loop elevated stations. The CER also resulted in the through-routing of trains from one company's line to another, enabling riders to take a single train from Ravenswood on the Northwestern 'L' to 35th Street on the South Side 'L'.

The CRT was an amalgamation of several elevated railroad operators, each of which operated service in a particular section of the city. These predecessors include:

• Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad (providing service starting in 1892),
• Lake Street Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1893),
• Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1895),
• Northwestern Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1900).

The CRT network was entirely at or above grade level until the 1943 opening of the State Street subway, now part of CTA's Red Line.

Following World War II and the continuing financial malaise of the privately owned bus, streetcar and elevated/subway operators, both the city government of Chicago and the Illinois legislature favored consolidating the three separate systems into a single, public-owned authority. The assets and operations of the CRT were assumed by the newly established Chicago Transit Authority on October 1, 1947.

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  A 1922 vintage Chicago Rapid Transit Company "L" cars. This car had a trolley pole in addition to contact shoes on the trucks.