Yellow Line (CTA)

Yellow Line (CTA)

The Yellow Line, formerly known as the Skokie Swift, is part of the Chicago Transit Authority's Chicago 'L' heavy rail rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois. The 5.1-mile (8.2 km) (10-minute ride), three-stop shuttle route runs from the Howard Street Terminal on the northern city limits of Chicago, through the southern part of suburban Evanston, to the Dempster Street Terminal in Skokie, Illinois.

At Howard Street, Yellow Line passengers can transfer to the Purple or Red Lines of the CTA. The Yellow Line is the only CTA line that does not go to The Loop. It is also unique in that it runs in a below-grade trench for part of its length, although it has no subway components and does not run in an expressway median, it also includes grade segments and crossings at the northern portion of the line. It was built using the tracks of the former Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad's high-speed Skokie Valley Line. The Yellow Line also only has one main branch.

Extending the line to Old Orchard Mall in Skokie has been discussed as well. At one time the line had several intermediate stops in Evanston and Skokie—including one at Oakton—but these stations have long been out of use and have been dismantled. In June 2010, construction began on a new station at Oakton, which opened on April 30, 2012.

Travel time along the Skokie Swift-Yellow Line is about eight minutes. Trains operate using only Budd-built 2600-series rail cars in two-car train consists with 10 to 12 minute headways all day. Service is provided Daily, Monday-Friday between 5am and 10:30pm, Saturday-Sunday 6am and 11pm with an average weekday boardings of 7,063 in September 2012. Until late 2009, the Yellow Line was operated with Morrison-Knudsen-built 3200-Series cars that were specially equipped with roof boards that held pantographs until late 2004 (the roof boards remain on cars 3441-3456 to this day even after they were all officially reassigned to the Brown Line).