Racine (CTA Blue Line station)

For the abandoned station on the Green Line, see Racine (CTA Green Line station).

Racine
File:Racine station.jpg
Location	430 South Racine Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60607
Coordinates
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Surface Level
History
Opened	June 22, 1958
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	757,731  0.8% (CTA)
Rank	91 out of 143
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station UIC–Halsted toward O'Hare Blue Line Congress Branch Illinois Medical District toward Forest Park
Route map Legend Blue Line to O'Hare x20px x20px Racine Ave. File:BSicon exSTR-R grey.svg File:BSicon exSTR-L grey.svg File:BSicon exSTR-R grey.svg File:BSicon exSTR-L grey.svg File:BSicon exSTR-R grey.svg File:BSicon exSTR-L grey.svg x20px x20px x20px x20px Loomis St. x20px x20px Blue Line to Forest Park

Racine is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Blue Line. The station serves the Near West Side neighborhood and the western end of the UIC campus.

History

The station opened on June 22, 1958 and is almost identical to every other station built in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, including an island platform, a small station house on Racine's and Loomis's overpass containing only a ticket booth and turnstiles and a long passageway ramp connecting the two.

Service

Racine sits at the base of the Loomis ramp, a double-tracked viaduct that rises from the expressway to join the Douglas Branch north of 18th Street station. Prior to April 28, 2008, the Blue Line split into two branches here. Trains to Forest Park continued west in the Congress Expressway, while the other trains took the Loomis Ramp onto the Douglas branch to operate to 54th/Cermak. After April 28, 2008, the Douglas Branch service was discontinued and replaced with the Pink Line. Although the Loomis Ramp no longer is used for revenue service, it remains intact as the sole track connection between the Blue Line and the rest of the system, allowing for non-revenue equipment moves.

Location

The station is located at 430 South Racine Avenue and gives access to the University Village neighborhood and the western end of the UIC campus. It is in the Eisenhower Expressway median at surface level. The Loomis Street entrance to the Racine station is located near Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and Andrew Jackson Language Academy.

Bus connections

CTA

• #7 Harrison
• #60 Blue Island/26th (Owl Service)
• #126 Jackson

Pace

• #755 Plainfield-IMD Express

External links

• Racine (Congress Line) Station Page
• Loomis Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Racine Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View