The CTA's Red Line, formerly known as Howard-Dan Ryan. Its two sections used to be separate (the northern half used to be paired with the south part of the Green Line, and the south half with the Green Line's west branch). This line travels from Howard on the city's northern limits, through the Loop (Chicago's central business district), and south to 95th Street.

The line operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the event of problems in the subway, the line will be routed over the loop elevated tracks, following the Brown Line's route to Merchandise Mart, the traveling along the north and east parts of the loop, taking the Orange Line's track to Roosevelt, and then using a connector track to resume normal service along the Dan Ryan Expressway median.

All trains on the line are wheelchair accessible, though most stations are not. Customers who require accessibility should also contact the CTA before riding (1.888.YOUR.CTA) to ensure that the elevators are working at the stations they wish to use.

The following is a text map of the Red Line's route. It is not to scale. Traffic is two-way in all sections of the map. North is up. Stations are marked with either an o or a (T). The latter represents a free transfer station. Mouse-over the (T) to see which lines you can transfer to at that station. Track designated by a · indicates subway track. Stations between Chicago and Roosevelt, inclusive, run along the State Street Subway - in other words, their cross streets are all State Street (0 E/W). Travel times (approximate) are provided on the left side of the map.

         
~~~~(T) HOWARD
      \
       o JARVIS
        \
         o MORSE
          \
           o LOYOLA
           |
           o GRANVILLE
 16        | 
 Min.      o THORNDALE
           |
           o BRYN MAWR
           |
           o BERWYN
           |
           o ARGYLE
           |
           o LAWRENCE
           |
~~~~~~~~~~~o WILSON
           |
           +-o SHERIDAN
             |
 10          o ADDISON
 Min.        |
            (T) BELMONT
             |
             |
~~~~~~~~~~~~(T) FULLERTON
             |
             ·
             o NORTH/CLYBOURN
              ·
 10            ·  CLARK/DIVISION
 Min.           ··o·            
                   ·
                   o CHICAGO 
                   ·
                   o GRAND
                   ·
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(T) LAKE *     
                   ·               
                  (T) WASHINGTON   
                   ·               
                   o MONROE      
                   ·             
 12               (T) JACKSON    
 Min.              ·                
                   o HARRISON       
                   ·                
                  (T) ROOSEVELT 
                  ·
                  o CERMACK-CHINATOWN
                  |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o SOX-35th
                  |
                  o 47th
 10               |
 Min.             o GARFIELD
                  |
                  o 63rd
                   \
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o 69th
                    |
                    |
 8                  o 79th
 Min.               |
                    |
                    o 87th
                    |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o 95th/DAN RYAN

* Transfers at Lake Street require you to either have used a Transit Card or Chicago Card. Passengers who paid cash need to get a free transfer pass from the station attendant.

Things to note:

  • All stations have some form of warming-shelter on their platforms. Usually, there is a bus-shelter with heat lamps. Though these are not the best in the world, they do provide some warmth and protection from the wind during the winter.
  • Most stations have Pepsi vending machines (20 oz $1.00), and some also have convenience stores.
  • The CTA uses electric trains, which run off of power from a third rail. Therefore, it is imperative that you stay off the tracks!
  • All train cars have an intercom system to the motorman, located on a panel next to the wheelchair-accessible seat by the cab of each car, with a blue light overhead. This can be used in an emergency, or by customers with disabilities to alert the motorman to wait until they have exited the train.

Sources: http://www.transitchicago.com, personal knowledge.