Wells Street Terminal

CTA rapid transit
CA&E interurban

The terminal prior to reconstruction

Location

314 South Wells Street
Chicago, Illinois 60606

Coordinates

41°52′40″N 87°38′02″W / 41.8777°N 87.6338°WCoordinates: 41°52′40″N 87°38′02″W / 41.8777°N 87.6338°W

Owned by

Chicago Transit Authority

Platforms

2 Island platforms, 1 Side platform

Tracks

Construction

Structure type

Elevated

History

Opened

October 3, 1904

Closed

September 20, 1953

Previous names

Fifth Avenue Terminal

Route map

Wells Street Terminal was a stub-end downtown terminal on the 'L' in Chicago, Illinois, located at Wells Street between Jackson Boulevard and Van Buren Street. The terminal was in operation from 1904 to 1953.

The Fifth Avenue Terminal (as it was originally known) was built by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad in 1904 to establish a terminal for rush hour elevated train traffic. Along with Chicago's other elevated railroad operators, the Metropolitan operated most of its trains on the Loop elevated through Chicago's central business district. However, the tracks of the Loop 'L' were operating at capacity during rush hours, and could not handle the additional train traffic needed to satisfy demand. Accordingly, the Metropolitan ran some of its rush hour services to Wells Street Terminal instead of circling the Loop. Similar terminals were used by the other elevated railroad operators of Chicago, but the Metropolitan's Wells Street Terminal had the advantage of being directly adjacent to the Loop "L" tracks on Wells Street and even had a transfer bridge to the Quincy Street station on the Loop 'L'.

The Metropolitan's services included trains operating on its Garfield Park main line, the Douglas Park branch, and the Logan Square and Humboldt Park branch. These lines are ancestors of Chicago Transit Authority's present-day Blue and Pink Line services, though only small remnants of the original lines remain as part of today's Blue Line route.

In 1905, the Metropolitan's elevated trains at the terminal were joined by the interurban trains of the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway. The terminal was the only downtown facility used by the interurban; their trains did not use the Loop 'L'.

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Wikipedia