how do you know they're talking about north halsted? Halsted is a pretty long street...

^yeah, wouldn't that kind of overlap with the red/brown line?

There is a graphic associated with the story in the Tribune. Basically slotted for the portion of Halsted from North to Lake Street (for the pilot program).

^ Wow, I didn't realize how little 10.2 miles was until I saw that graffic. A better east-west connection into Streeterville looks good, esp in light of all the health-care/research related jobs there as well as Mag Mile shopping

Yeah, 10.2 isn't really a whole lot. However, the Chicago line seems to be quite long by urban standards; it goes all the way out to California/Grand, to the south end of Humboldt Park; that's pretty far.

I also like the fact that I can exit the Blue Line at Chicago and take a fast bus line into Streeterville - that's quite a luxury, compared to the complicated transfer I would need to make in the Loop.

The Halsted line is also nice, but I would really have preferred if they had extended it all the way through Greektown and across the Eisenhower to the edge of UIC - this would only add an extra 1/2 mile, but it would make the Halsted bus go SO much faster.

Sun-Times take

Metra adding trains to deal with rush-hour crunch
Weekend service will also get more trains, officials say
By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter
May 11, 2008
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Metra riders who find themselves caught amid standing-room-only crowds on Union Pacific North line trains will get some relief this month when additional cars are added to rush-hour trains, officials said Friday.

Facing record high ridership, Metra also will add weekend trains to fill hours-long gaps on the UP North and Milwaukee District North lines.

It's too bad no BRT is being implemented on North Michigan Avenue. Riding buses down that stretch in the morning or afternoon is awful. It's too bad we can't build a bus tunnel under Michigan Avenue like Seattle has. Removing buses from that awfully busy street would really speed things up!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2076/...125accc4_b.jpg
(photo posted on Flickr by PWylde)

WTTW Ch.11 Will air a special in-depth look at the STAR Line on Tuesday @ 7:00pm. I think the show is called 'Chicago Matters'... Whether you like this proposal or not it should provide an interesting look.

http://www.chicagomatters.org/calendar.asp

Regarding questions about the Brownline rehab - I'm fully aware that for riders purposes the brownline has been under construction for a couple years now, with associated delays, etc. However, the vast majority of that work has been related to replacing stations, not rails and ties. There are some exceptions to this in the North Main area between Belmont and Fullerton, but generally speaking you have new stations on the Brownline with old rotting ties on the tracks. Replacing those ties and rails is what will begin shortly.

And to go with what others were mentioning before, a couple years ago the system was not covered with slow zones - however, it should have been. The condition of the system in places was terrible. The worst spots have been tackled or are being worked on now.

CTA basis its bonding on the fact that if they do not upgrade the system, ridership will dimensish, farebox receipts will drop, and so on.

.....I 've asked this question once or twice before but I never really got a good answer.......they are re-building all the stations on the Brown Line.....but the steel BETWEEN the stations is still 100yo steel and in many places it looks totally rusted out (my opinion only) ......are they going to spend another $500MM some time soon to replace all that rusted steel between the stations or is that steel "good to go" for another 100 years ?

Will the Bus lanes have their own private ROW?

Or will it be something "shitty"

http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/i..._(o)_large.jpg

The station work has generally included some structural renewal in the areas immediately adjacent to the stations, and CTA crews have otherwise gradually replaced the more intensive-wear components along the line, particularly the flange angles that connect the columns to the bents. ArtV can probably elaborate more. But the imminent Brown Line trackwork to replace ties and running rail is more or less the 'final' component for the Brown Line to be effectively fully modernized by the time the project is complete in late '09.

Very generous from the Tribune to put this spin on it. Actually, this was Metra saying they would only add more service to the UP-N and MD-N lines, while they were supposed to add more off-peak and weekend service to almost every line in exchange for the additional $100+ million they're receiving annually from HB656, but have cut back due to fuel expenses. If CTA were pulling this, the Trib would have framed the article as

^ So true.

Chicago area newspapers slam the CTA on a regular basis, while you almost hear almost nothing negative about Metra.

Is it a racism thing? Perhaps CTA is viewed as some sort of charity service for minorities, who knows?

No different here in NYC either. Everybody grips about the MTA (me included), but you usually hear little about the LIRR, etc

I think it's because it's foreign to them. Trib reporters and editors generally don't live in the city. If they do (trying to give RedEye some cred), it's in one of three North Side neighborhoods. Any hiccup with the Brown Line is serious, while the south end of the Red Line could be closed for months before they noticed.

And then there's mere laziness. If Metra puts that spin in the press release, the Trib will think it's doing a good job by merely summarizing and shortening. Questioning the premise never occurs to them.

During rush it is a breeze compared to what it had been. There was a time when the brownline was taking close to 1 hour from Western to the Loop.

The trains aren't slowing down at rush.
The trains aren't waiting for the redline on the southbound track anymore at Fullerton and Belmont.

I want the purple line to be reversed in the loop though!!!

I don't think this is true, at least for the Sun-Times. I happen to know many people who work for the Times (my aunt does and I've met many of her friends) and they live everywhere from Rogers Park to Hyde Park, to Wicker Park, to Logan Square. I don't know any who are stupid enough to live in the suburbs and commute every day.

^ Plus, I've heard many people who live in the city & ride the CTA gripe about it

Oh, C'mon. It was a serious comment. Will the Bus lanes be in their own Right-of-Way or not. It's a huge difference.