Pink Line and the United Center

Back when the plans were unveiled for returning the Paulina connector to revenue service, there were ruminations about new stations at the United Center and one or two other locations. Does anyone know if these are to come to pass within a foreseeable timeframe? Is the current service with the #20 Madison and game-day United Center buses sufficient? Would the Pink Line be any faster than said buses from downtown, considering the trip around the loop and the presumably low-speed turnout off of the Lake Street line?

Still no plans (to my knowledge) for a station at the UC on the Pink line, even though that would be a no-brainer, and I believe it would be time-competitive with buses. From my observations, the turnout at Paulina is good for 25mph, although Pink line trains don't exceed 35 on the connector between Congress and Lake. However, CTA is planning a new station at Morgan & Lake, two blocks west of where the old Halsted St. station was. Always thought they should have put a station back in that area anyway, it's supposed to be done sometime within the next 12-15 months, so the story goes...

That question was asked at the Circle Line LPA and the answer given was NO Pink line/Circle line station specifically for the United Center. The proposed Pink line/Circle line station at Congress to access the Forest Park branch could be configured to serve the Center....meaning ramp, auxiliary entrance, etc. The answerer alluded that another separate project at CTA was studying the possibility of a Green line station at Damen that would be configured to serve the Center. That kind of project would not be as much money as the Circle Line LPA, so it could have a greater possibility of coming to be.

David Harrison

Ridership projections can't be all that great. The majority of land use in its catchment area is parking and empty lots. CTA runs #19 bus for event crowds and the Blue Line entrances aren't much farther than a potential Pink Line stop.

Sure, but with the frequency of 20s and X20s, a Madison stop would seem to make sense. Also, if done once the real estate market rebounds, it could yield a nice payout to the land owner to develop/sell off some lots. That kind of a favor could be very useful to a late-term mayor. I'd put my money on a Madison station 5-10 years from now.