Austin (CTA Green Line station)

Austin
Location	351 North Austin Boulevard Chicago, Illinois 60644
Coordinates
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)
Platforms	1 Island Platform
Tracks	2 tracks
Connections	CTA and Pace buses
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
History
Opened	April 15, 1899
Rebuilt	1962
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	643,394  4.1%
Rank	100 out of 143
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station Ridgeland toward Harlem/Lake Green Line Central toward Ashland/63rd or Cottage Grove
Route map Legend South Blvd. Green Line west to Harlem/Lake Austin Blvd. Oak Park ↑ Chicago ↓ Corcoran Pl. Union Pacific / West Line Mason Ave. Green Line east to Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove

Austin is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is situated between the Ridgeland and Central stations on the Green Line, which runs from Harlem Avenue in Forest Park to Englewood and Woodlawn. The station is located at the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Corcoran Place in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side and borders the village of Oak Park.

Austin opened on April 15, 1899, as part of a surface level extension of the Lake Street Elevated Railroad, along with Central. It was rebuilt in the early 1960s as part of a project which moved the western end of the Lake Street line off of its street level alignment and onto an abandoned strip of the parallel Chicago and Northwestern Railway's embankment. The station at Austin consists of a single island platform; a stairway and escalator connect the platform to a station building. Trains serve Austin between 3:50am and 1:00am on weekdays, 5:50am and 1:00am on Saturdays, and 6:20am and 1:00am on Sundays. In addition to trains, Austin also serves CTA and Pace buses.

History

The original Austin station in 1909

The first Austin station opened in 1899, as part of a grade-level extension of the Lake Street Elevated Railroad west from terminal at 52nd Avenue through Austin and Oak Park. It temporarily served as the terminal for the Lake Street Elevated until the line was extended further west later that year.

It was rebuilt in 1962, as part of a project which moved the western two and a half miles of the Lake Street line off of its street level alignment and onto an abandoned strip of the parallel Chicago and Northwestern Railway's embankment. As part of the reconstruction, an auxiliary entrance was constructed at Mason Avenue, a block east of the main entrance. On February 18, 1973, the Mason entrance was reduced to functioning only as an auxiliary exit due to budget cuts. It was later closed entirely in 1994.

Facilities

The station consists of a single island platform on a grade-separated embankment. The platform is located on the south side of the right of way of Metra's Union Pacific/West Line to the east of Austin Boulevard. It serves the Green Line's two tracks; the northern track serves trains to Harlem, while the southern track serves trains to Ashland/63 and Cottage Grove. Fare controls and a customer assistant booth are housed within a station building situated alongside the railroad embankment at street level. Access to the platform is provided by a stairwell and an escalator. The station's lack of an elevator or a ramp means that it is not handicapped accessible.

Services

Austin is part of the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line, which runs east from Harlem Avenue in Forest Park to downtown Chicago and south to the Englewood and Woodlawn neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side. It is the fourth inbound station from Harlem on the Green Line and is situated between the Ridgeland and Central stations. Green Line trains serve Austin between 3:50am and 1:00am on weekdays, 5:50am and 1:00am on Saturdays, and 6:20am and 1:00am on Sundays. The station is approximately 4 minutes from Harlem, 17 minutes from Clark/Lake in the Loop, 51 minutes from Ashland/63rd, and 45 minutes from Cottage Grove. 629,581 passengers boarded at Austin in 2011.

In addition to 'L' trains, the station provides service to several bus routes. Two CTA bus routes stop at Austin, the #N20 Madison and #91 Austin. These routes provide service to Madison Street, Illinois Center, Austin Avenue, the Austin Blue Line station, Lawrence Avenue, and the Jefferson Park Transit Center. Service to Taft High School is also provided on school days. Additionally, Pace operates two bus routes to the station: the #309 Lake Street and #313 St. Charles Road. These routes provide service to West Suburban Hospital, Westlake Community Hospital, the Elmhurst Metra station, the Melrose Park Metra station, Yorktown Center, East Gate Shopping Center, and the municipalities of Oak Park, River Forest, Maywood, Melrose Park, Northlake, Stone Park, Elmhurst, Bellwood, Berkeley, Villa Park, and Lombard.

External links

• CTA Austin station information
• Chicago-L.org Austin Station Page
• Austin Boulevard entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Mason Avenue closed entrance from Google Maps Street View