Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 45, 2007

The "L", variously, and sometimes, styled "L", El, EL, or L, is the rapid transit system that serves Chicago in the United States. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). It has been credited with helping create the densely built-up downtown that is one of Chicago's distinguishing features. The "L" consists of a network of eight lines totaling 106.1 route miles (57.1 miles (92 km) elevated, 36.9 miles (59 km) surface, and 12.1 miles (19 km) subway) on over 242.6 miles (390 km) of double-track rail line with 144 stations. The oldest section dates from 1892. The "L" primarily serves the city proper plus eight close-in suburbs. The rail network is laid out in a spoke–hub distribution paradigm, which focuses transit toward the central loop. Inter-suburban travel requires indirect commute to the loop and transfer to another line. The CTA has proposed a 'Circle Line' to help remedy this problem. The 'L' is the third busiest rail mass transit system in the United States, behind New York City's Subway, and Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail; and by age is the third oldest rapid transit system in the Americas after New York (The oldest operating elevated sections date to the 1880s) and Boston (1898). It is one of the few rapid transit systems in North America providing 24-hour service, though only on the two busiest lines. On average 658,524 people ride the 'L' each weekday, 419,258 each Saturday, and 315,240 each Sunday. Noisy and at times slow and overwhelmingly crowded, the 'L' has nonetheless become one of the symbols of the city it serves. In a 2005 poll, Chicago Tribune readers voted it one of the "seven wonders of Chicago," behind the lakefront and Wrigley Field but ahead of Sears Tower, the Water Tower, the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry.

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