Quote:
Originally Posted by lawfin
Yeah I forgot about that.
But there have been times when I have been down in the west loop and wished I could grab a brown line but instead had to hike over to state st.
I still think it might make sense to run it to the loop 24 / 7
|
The demand isn't there - the overall demand for North-South travel to/from downtown is met by the Red Line running every 12-15 minutes during the late night and early morning hours. It leaves a few gaps in coverage - namely around Diversey and Armitage Brown Line stations, and the West Loop. However, the demand in these areas can also be met by the #8 Halsted bus, which also runs until about 2 and starts up around 4:30. If anything, probably more cost effective to just make that an owl route at a 20-30-minute frequency than to run the rails, staff the stations, etc.
The Lake-Dan Ryan line ran 24 hours over the Loop until the early 90s, but only on the Wabash and Lake legs. I'm not sure of the last time the Wells and Van Buren legs had owl service - maybe MrD knows exactly. If I had to guess, the last time would have been the 1960s before the Dan Ryan line opened, the Loop ran unidirectionally (both tracks running counterclockwise) and the Lake Street line looped instead of running through.