question about the new 5000-series cars

I haven't seen the new 5000-series cars in person yet but I have looked at a number of photos and videos. What I've noted is the destination signs are all that same orange-amber LED color. How is CTA letting passengers know which line these cars are operating on, i.e. some way they're color-coding the routes?

Although CTA has been issuing press releases regarding the routing details of the new cars, it seems like the local newspapers have been slow to pick up on any of it; I haven't seen one article either in the Tribune or Sun-Times about these cars since they began revenue testing last month...

CTA Tattler (and its commentators) have touched upon this issue a couple of times.

Multi-color LED displays are fairly ubiquitous nowadays, and while white text on solid color background would probably not work well with such (too bright to be easily readable), a square or bar of color to the side of the terminal name could work.

doepack wrote:Although CTA has been issuing press releases regarding the routing details of the new cars, it seems like the local newspapers have been slow to pick up on any of it; I haven't seen one article either in the Tribune or Sun-Times about these cars since they began revenue testing last month...

Several articles HAVE appeared in the daily newspapers. This isn't front page news...except for railfans, LOL. So since the "L"s don't shoot or cheat each other, their story is gone from print real fast. The "Chicago-L.org" site has a good list of articles.

David Harrison

orangeline wrote:I haven't seen the new 5000-series cars in person yet but I have looked at a number of photos and videos. What I've noted is the destination signs are all that same orange-amber LED color. How is CTA letting passengers know which line these cars are operating on, i.e. some way they're color-coding the routes?

The CTA issued a press relase before the cars were assigned to the Red line for testing. Then last week, the CTA issued another press release announcing the four week testing on the Green line.

The new signboards will not be color coded. Color really isn't necessary since when the cars begin regular service years from now, they'll all be confined to one route for years and years.....bets now are on the Blue line. But even if the cars were assigned to a line that shared space, like around the Loop, the destination wording would suffice. Board the train that reads..."Midway"..."Harlem"...."Linden", etc.

David Harrison

P.S. The scheduled weekday departures:
Harlem at 0620, 0910, 1236, 1520, 1840.
Ashland at 0740, 1042, 1354
Cottage Grove at 1636, 1959.

All trains will be six cars in length.