CTA announces more rail services, operators throughout spring, summer
CHICAGO (CBS) —The Chicago Transit Authority announced that it will add more rail services and updates throughout the spring and summer.
The new schedules for spring will go into effect starting Sunday.
In addition, new rail operators will be added to those services as they complete the required training in the coming months.
"These new operators will be filling trips that will help us achieve our previously stated goal of providing increased service along the Red, Green, Brown, Purple, and Blue (O'Hare Branch) lines during peak travel periods," CTA said in a statement.
The CTA says it plans to train up to 200 new operators this year — twice the number compared to last year. So far, 67 are currently in training and are expected to begin qualifying for rail operator status over the next three months. More are expected to be trained through the summer.
The CTA says it hopes to restore rail service to pre-pandemic levels.
While it's a step in the right direction, transportation experts say it still does not address all issues.
"There's a lot of good news here. But it comes after a pretty tough period with the CTA's cut back service, some of the less used bus routes are still not back to where people want them to be," said Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation professor at DePaul University. "So it's a difficult landscape out there, the busiest routes, though we're going to see better service. But boy, there's some people still feeling left behind. There's no easy solution for that, you know, 2026 2027 we're expecting a very difficult budget situation with the so called fiscal cliff. And that's around the corner."
New operators will be increasing service along the Red, Green, Brown, Purple and Blue lines. However, it's not clear what will happen on weekends and during the slower seaon.
Riders can view the spring 2024 schedule and sign up for updates by visiting transitchicago.com.