Howard station (CTA)

Howard is an 'L' station in Chicago, Illinois on the North Side Main Line. It is the northern terminus of the Red Line and the southeastern terminus of the Yellow Line; it also serves the Purple Line, for which it is the southern terminus at non-rush hour times on weekdays and all day on weekends. Trains on the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (North Shore Line) also stopped at Howard from 1926 until that line was abandoned in 1963.

Howard   7600N 1700W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	7519 North Paulina Street Chicago, Illinois 60626
Coordinates	42.019161°N 87.673093°W / 42.019161; -87.673093
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	North Side Main Line
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	CTA Buses Pace Buses
Construction
Structure type	Embankment
Parking	634 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	May 16, 1908; 116 years ago (1908-05-16)
Rebuilt	1921, 1964 (station house remodeled) 2000–03 (parking garage and bus terminal renovation) 2006–09 (station reconstruction)
Previous names	Howard Avenue
Passengers
2022	835,570[1]  15.4%
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Terminus Red Line Jarvis toward 95th/Dan Ryan Oakton–Skokie toward Dempster–Skokie Yellow Line Terminus South Boulevard toward Linden Purple Line Purple Line Express Wilson toward Loop (Clark/Lake)
Former services Preceding station Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad Following station Church toward North Chicago Junction North Shore Line Shore Line Route Wilson Avenue toward Roosevelt Road Skokie toward Milwaukee North Shore Line Skokie Valley Route Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Ridge Closed 1948 toward Dempster Niles Center branch Terminus Calvary Closed 1931 toward Linden Evanston Line
Track layout Legend Purple to Linden Yellow to Dempster–Skokie Yard leads omitted Howard St. Red Yellow end Purple end ( Purple Express continues south ) Rogers Ave. Purple Express to the Loop Red to 95th/Dan Ryan
Location

Location

The former North Shore Line entrance on the north side of Howard Street has been preserved and restored to use, now as an auxiliary exit

Howard station during reconstruction in August 2007. In the foreground are the wooden platforms and canopies dating from 1921; in the background new concrete platforms are under construction.

Platform, June 2008

Howard station is located at 7519 North Paulina Street in Chicago, Illinois, at Paulina Street and Howard Street.^[2] The station is in the Rogers Park community area of Chicago, just south of the border with the city of Evanston. It is one of four 'L' stations in Rogers Park, the others being Jarvis, Morse, and Loyola.

History

Red Destination sign

Yellow destination sign

Purple destination sign

The Chicago and Evanston Railroad constructed a route from Union Station in Chicago into Evanston in 1885 that became the Chicago and Evanston branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad (Milwaukee Road).^[3] In 1908, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad extended service north from Wilson station and into Evanston using the right of way of the Milwaukee Road.^[4] The Northwestern Elevated took over the operation of passenger services from the Milwaukee Road, rebuilt the stations along the line, and added new stations including one at Howard Avenue (now Howard Street).^[5] The station was rebuilt in 1921 when the line through the station was elevated onto an embankment. An escalator was added in 1964.

Between 2006 and 2009, the station was rebuilt. A new station house was constructed on Paulina Street providing an accessible path between the station platforms and the multi-story parking garage and bus terminal to the west of the station.^[6] The platforms and canopies were rebuilt, and the former main entrance on Howard Street entrance was renovated to be used as an auxiliary entrance to the new station. The station remained open throughout reconstruction, which was completed on March 20, 2009.^[6]

Station layout

A Park and Ride with 634 spaces, and sheltered bicycles provided at this station.^[2] A large maintenance yard and rolling stock storage facility, known as Howard Yard, is just north of the station. Northbound Purple and Yellow Line trains pass through the yard on the way to their terminal, and Red Line trains travel from the northbound platform to the southbound platform via a balloon loop in the yard. Southbound Yellow Line and non-rush hour Purple Line trains terminate at this station using track 3, located between the Red Line tracks, south of the station.

Connecting bus routes

CTA

• 22 Clark
• 97 Skokie
• 147 Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express
• 201 Central/Ridge (Monday–Saturday only)
• 206 Evanston Circulator (weekday rush hours only)

Pace

• 213 Green Bay Road (Monday–Saturday only)
• 215 Crawford/Howard
• 290 Touhy Avenue

References

1. "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2022" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
2. "Howard". CTA website. Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
3. "The Chicago & Evanston". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 22, 1885.
4. "The Northwestern Elevated Extension at Evanston, ILL". The Street Railway Journal. 31 (21): 842–849. May 23, 1908.
5. "Electrification of the Evanston Suburban Line of the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul". The Railway Age. 44 (14): 467. October 4, 1907.
6. "Opening of Auxiliary Entrance at Howard Station Completes Station Renovations". CTA website. Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved August 23, 2010.

External links

• Howard Station Page at Chicago-'L'.org
• Red Line Train schedule (PDF) at CTA official site
• Purple Line Train schedule (PDF) at CTA official site
• Yellow Line Train schedule (PDF) at CTA official site
• Howard Station Page on the CTA official site
• Howard Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Howard Street North Side Exit (former North Shore Line Entrance) from Google Maps Street View