The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) celebrated the completion of its $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Phase One Project with the opening of four contiguous Red Link stations Sunday.
CTA opened its new Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr Red Line stations and offered customers a commemorative “first ride” between the Bryn Mawr and Berwyn stations. The opening was the first time four stations have opened at the same time since CTA opened the Orange Line in 1993, officials said.
“It was wonderful to welcome CTA riders today to our brand new, fully accessible Red Line stations and to showcase the RPM team’s hard work to modernize and improve rail service for the people who visit, live in and work in these communities,” Acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen said. “I am grateful to the people in the neighborhoods that these stations will serve— including the residents, businesses and local elected officials that have partnered with us during construction—for their support. Now is the time to celebrate together the access and opportunity that these new, breathtaking stations will provide.”
The new stations replace the more than 100-year-old stations with larger facilities that are ADA accessible. The stations will feature better lighting and security, real-time information boards, more reliable train service, less crowded trains and platforms and a more aesthetically pleasing pedestrian environment, officials said.
RPM Phase One is the largest completed transit investment in the agency’s history, officials said. Construction began in 2019 and included the reconstruction of the stations, and replacement of the track structure for six track-miles, including new track, support structures, bridges and viaducts along the 1.3-mile Lawrence to Bryn Mawr corridor.
CTA will now work on final finishing construction work and be done with the RPM Modernization Phase One, estimated to be complete by the end of 2025.