Yellow Line

The CTA has released its schedule for the holiday train, which features decorated train cars. The train typically operates from about 1-8 p.m. on weekends and 3-7 p.m. on select weekdays. The train will run on the: > > Green Line: November 25, 26 and 30 > > Orange and Brown Lines: December 1-3 > > Pink Line: December 7 > > Blue Line: December 8-10 > > Red Line- December 14, 16, 17 and 20 > > Purple Line: December 15, 17 and 21 > > Yellow Line: December 22

Hark! The CTA has announced the dates for the return of the holiday train, its yearly decked-out transport of Christmas spirit. The train will operate from 1 to 8 p.m. on weekends, and 3 to 7 p.m. on select weekdays. Its appearances on various lines are as follows: > > Green Line: Nov. 23, 24*, 28 (from 4-8 p.m.) > > Orange Line and Brown Line: Nov. 29 (3-5:45 p.m.), 30 (3:50-6:30 p.m.) and Dec. 1* (12:50-8 p.m.) > > Pink Line: Dec. 5 > > Blue Line: Dec. 6, 7, 8 ** (includes photo-only stop on Pink Line)

The CTA is cleaning up its act - just not fast enough. A year ago this month, CTA President Forrest Claypool and Mayor Emanuel announced an initiative to spruce up 100 of the CTA's 145 stations within a year. These so-called Renew Crews have been traveling station to station to repair lighting, paint walls, update signs and scrub floors. The CTA has completed work at 57 stations (some of them were cleaned twice) with six stations on deck for renewal, according to the CTA website.

The CTA is cleaning up its act - just not fast enough. A year ago this month, CTA President Forrest Claypool and Mayor Emanuel announced an initiative to spruce up 100 of the CTA's 145 stations within a year. These so-called Renew Crews have been traveling station to station to repair lighting, paint walls, update signs and scrub floors. The CTA has completed work at 57 stations (some of them were cleaned twice) with six stations on deck for renewal, according to the CTA website.

Handmade pictures of CTA buses and trains adorn the Smith household in North Center. A large train table in the living room features a toy railroad labeled "Amtrak. " Next to the tracks are houses and small three-dimensional CTA buses made from paper. CTA maps are taped to the walls, and old-fashioned station signs are stacked behind the train table. But the Smith household is no longer a CTA home. Pamela Smith and her son Robert, 20, regularly ride Amtrak and Metra trains, but they haven't taken the CTA together for months.

Change was a hot topic of the CTA this year - and not just because a new debit-credit fare system could reduce coin transactions in the next few years. Other changes announced this year: Longtime politico Forrest Claypool was named CTA president in April, and workers have been sprucing up train stations for the last few months. Meanwhile, some CTA shelters now have Bus Tracker displays, while security cameras have been installed in each CTA station. Elsewhere, Red Line tracks on the South Side are being rehabbed, more Redbox kiosks are being installed at some CTA stops,...

In May, the CTA shut down Brown, Purple and Red line train service during rush hour on the North Side so firefighters could battle a blaze at Roy's Furniture near the Fullerton stop. During the shutdown, riders reported conflicting instructions from CTA employees - one example of a few recent communication breakdowns CTA President Forrest Claypool identified as a problem in a sitdown interview with RedEye shortly after the incident. To improve communication with riders, the CTA is moving toward an audio system the agency says will provide clearer announcements at rail...

Each CTA station should have a train tracker display within a year, CTA president Forrest Claypool said Wednesday. It is the CTA's goal to put a digital display that features Train Tracker and CTA notifications in 143 stations in the next year, CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. Two stations already have these displays: The new Morgan/Lake Green and Pink Line station on the Near West Side and the new Oakton station on the Yellow Line. There are currently Train Tracker displays at "about 20" CTA stations, Steele said.

Six male riders - including a teenager - have been killed on CTA tracks since March, an increase from previous years, according to the transit agency's data. The most recent rail death was last week, when a 27-year-old ex-Marine visiting Chicago was electrocuted after touching the third rail at the South Boulevard stop on the Purple Line. Evanston police said he was on the tracks urinating and accidentally fell on the third rail. Zachary McKee's death was the second CTA rail death in April.

Amid all the fanfare and preparations for the NATO summit, the Chicago Department of Transportation quietly opened the Morgan stop in the West Loop on Friday. Green and Pink Line riders can now use the station, under construction since the summer of 2010. There were more workers putting finishing touches on the platform than riders waiting for trains Friday morning when Going Public visited the station, off Morgan and Lake Streets. The stop is the second station the CTA has opened in three weeks after years without new stations.

Handmade pictures of CTA buses and trains adorn the Smith household in North Center. A large train table in the living room features a toy railroad labeled "Amtrak. " Next to the tracks are houses and small three-dimensional CTA buses made from paper. CTA maps are taped to the walls, and old-fashioned station signs are stacked behind the train table. But the Smith household is no longer a CTA home. Pamela Smith and her son Robert, 20, regularly ride Amtrak and Metra trains, but they haven't taken the CTA together for months.

Some riders find taking a CTA train just a few stops to work every day a challenge because of slow zones and crowds. Imagine taking the train to 145 stops in one day. Last week, Going Public did just that by completing the "L" Challenge--consecutively visiting all 145 CTA stations by train--in nine hours and 17 minutes. During the trip, which began at the 95th Red Line stop and ended at the 54th/Cermak Pink Line stop, GP swiped her CTA card nine times, ate six protein bars (not on the train)