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 Dempster Linden Main Isabella Oakton Central Kostner Noyes Crawford– East Prairie Foster Dodge Davis Dempster Asbury Main Ridge South Boulevard Howard Jarvis Morse Loyola Kimball Granville Kedzie Thorndale Mannheim/22nd Francisco Bryn Mawr Canterbury Rockwell Berwyn Roosevelt Western Argyle Harrison Damen Lawrence Bellwood Ravenswood Wilson 25th Avenue   Forest Park Montrose Buena 17th Avenue Marion Irving Park Sheridan 11th Avenue Oak Park Addison Grace 5th Avenue Ridgeland Paulina Addison Des Plaines Lombard Lawndale Clark Hannah Austin Southport Harlem Menard St. Louis Belmont Home Central Kedzie Wellington Oak Park Laramie Humboldt Park Diversey Gunderson Cicero California Wrightwood Lombard Kostner Western Fullerton Austin Pulaski Logan Square Webster Central Hamlin California Armitage Laramie Homan Western Cicero Kedzie Halsted Kilbourn Sacramento North/Clybourn Larrabee Tripp California Damen Sedgwick Pulaski Campbell Division Schiller Garfield Park Oakley Chicago Division St. Louis Damen Grand Lake St Transfer Ashland Oak Clark/Division Kedzie Loomis Chicago Chicago Sacramento Racine Grand Grand California Morgan Merchandise Mart Western Halsted North Water Terminal Hoyne Clinton Clark/Lake State/Lake Ogden Madison Randolph/Wells Randolph/ Wabash Randolph/ Market Washington Polk Marshfield Madison/Wells Madison/ Wabash Roosevelt Laflin Market Street Terminal Monroe 14th Place Racine Quincy Adams/Wabash 18th Halsted │ Canal Wells Street Terminal   Jackson Wood Franklin/ Van Buren LaSalle/ Van Buren State/Dearborn Hoyne Congress Terminal Congress/ Wabash Western Harrison California Roosevelt Roosevelt Douglas Park Kedzie 18th Street Homan Cermak Drake Swift 26th Lawndale Packers 29th Pulaski Racine 31st Kildare Armour 33rd Kenton Exchange 35th 48th Avenue Halsted Pershing 50th Avenue Wallace 52nd Avenue Indiana 54th Avenue South Parkway 56th Avenue 43rd Vincennes 58th Avenue 47th Cottage Grove/Drexel Austin 51st Ellis/Lake Park Lombard Garfield 42nd Place Ridgeland 58th Oak Park State Wentworth 61st Princeton King Drive Harvard Cottage Grove 65th Street University Marquette Road Parnell Dorchester 69th Street Halsted Jackson Park Racine Loomis 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.

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