A new substation is being built over the right-of-way at Morgan Street in the West Loop, part of the CTA’s Forest Park Branch Rebuild project along the Blue Line. A new construction permit was issued on August 1, 2023 to begin work. F.H. Paschen took over as the general contractor with the issuance of a revision on November 24 that same year.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Per the CTA, the new station will “upgrade the traction power system that provides electricity to the system and will result in improved service reliability for the Blue Line.”
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Ross Barney Architects designed the station, one of several CTA projects they’ve created, including the Morgan Green/Pink Line station, which opened in 2012, and the Kimball/Barry substation currently under construction in Avondale.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Issued using the address of 414 South Morgan Street, permit details include “new CTA electrical substation.”Unfortunately, no renderings of the substation have been released.
An inbound train passes through. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Bonus Coverage: A few looks at construction progress from August 5, 2024:
Two trains pass in the day, August 2024. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
The substation is located two blocks east of another ongoing CTA Blue Line project, where the Racine station is being completely rebuilt. When work is complete that reopens to commuters, the auxiliary entrance on west end of the station at Loomis Street will be closed and rebuilt.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Went by this a week ago, wondering what it was. Thanks for the update!
When will this be completed so we can get back to trains running normal instead going at a slow pace!!
No completion date has been announced. But when this is done, and the new Racine station is finished, they’ll start work on the Loomis entrance. So trains will be slow for awhile yet.
It looks like the construction footprint of this allows for a potential quad track system on the forest park branch. Does anyone know if this is the case?