The CTA adopted its current, color-coded system of train lines only in 1993, and the colors riders know so well today reached their recognizable state only in 2006. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today marked the 25th anniversary of when CTA converted the names of its rail lines to a color. It is also the only train route that links two major baseball fields.
The Green Line consists of Chicago's two oldest lines: the Lake Street and South Side Lines. The portion between Congress Street and Pershing was completed in 1892. Its color was chosen because a green line marked its service on maps during the 1970s.
Purple Line runs locally in Evanston during non-rush periods and becomes and express train to the Loop during rush periods. In my experience you generally don't get many people on the Purple Line until it gets to Belmont or Fullerton, at which point you'll get a decent amount of people heading into the Loop. The color lines of Chicago's trains may be iconic, but they're more recent than you might think.
Everyday Chicagoans use the CTA "L" to get around the city and navigate using the trains. Chicago's "L" Train - The colorful History of The CTA By Adrian Naves The CTA brown line in the Loop. Photo: Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority.
Chicago is a busy city - whenever you're in town and trying to get around the city by car, it can be a nightmare during certain hours. CHICAGO (CBS)-- Wednesday is red-letter day at the CTA - 25 years since the CTA first began using color-coded route names on the 'L.' It's as simple as black and white: the 'L' is part of the. Chicago Rapid Transit In the late 1930s, the Chicago Rapid Transit Company, now owner of the entire "L" system, decided to adopt a new color scheme, consistent for all rolling stock.
The car body would be brindle brown, with burnt orange through the windows. The roof remained gray. CTA has officially dropped the use of its traditional line names in favor of the new color names.
Roller signs on the cars traditionally had indicated the route name, without indicating the actual direction. But newer roller signs would simply indicate the color and actual destination. In recent years, CTA has moved away from traditional mechanical roller signs to digital signs.
General Color Notes This page details the colors utilized on this website as provided by official sources, arranged by city. Only cities with published and easily accessible color schemes are listed here. This page is explicitly a data bank containing publicly available information.
The contents of this page may become out of date at any time.