Forest Park is a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...

's 'L' system, located in the village of

Forest Park, Illinois Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 14,339 at the 2020 census. The Forest Park (CTA station), Forest Park terminal on the Chicago Transit Authority, CTA ...

and serving the Blue Line. Before the Congress Line was built, it served as terminal for the Garfield Line. It is the western terminus of the Forest Park branch. The station was known as Des Plaines until 1994. It is also referred to as the Forest Park Transit Center by

Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US *Pace Airlines, an American charter airline * Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

because it is a major terminal for Pace buses. The station contains a 1,051-space

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

lot which uses the "Pay and Display" system, in which fees are paid at the lot entrance. It is located south of the

Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad is a terminal railroad in the Chicago area, formerly giving various other companies access to (Chicago's) Grand Central Station (Chicago), Grand Central Station. It also served to connect those rai ...

tracks which curve to the north of the station towards Madison Street where the line rechristens itself to the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

's Waukesha Subdivision.

History

Forest Park opened in 1902, as a local

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

station on the

Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway The Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), known colloquially as the "Roarin' Elgin" or the "Great Third Rail", was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service on its line between Chicago and Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, ...

. On March 11, 1905, the

Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (known as the ''Met'' or ''Polly "L"'') was the third elevated rapid transit line to be built in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first of Chicago 'L', Chicago’s elevated lines to be electrically powe ...

extended its Garfield Park rapid transit service west over the tracks of the Aurora Elgin and Chicago. An amusement park was located in this lot for 14 years (1908-1922) when an enormous fire incinerated parts of it, causing it to be shut down permanently. At this time Forest Park became the western terminal for the 'L' while continuing to serve as an interurban station. In 1958, the Congress Branch opened in the median of the

Eisenhower Expressway Interstate 290 (I-290) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that runs westward from the Jane Byrne Interchange near the Chicago Loop. The portion of I-290 from Interstate 294, I-294 to its east end is officially called the Dwight D. Eisenhowe ...

, the Blue Line was rerouted and connected to the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway Station LaSalle making Forest Park, the southern terminus of the Blue Line. Forest Park, however, is one of the few stations in the Congress Branch line that is not in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway, and is north of it. In 1966, the park-and-ride lot with 1,051 spaces was opened and a new station was built and completed in December 1982 along with the Transit Center that provides connection to many bus lines. On August 23, 2006, a new pedestrian bridge was lifted into place over the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

between Maywood and Forest Park. The bridge and new approaches permit a direct crossing over the Des Plaines River, allowing the main stem of the

Illinois Prairie Path The Illinois Prairie Path (often called the Prairie Path and abbreviated IPP) is a network of of bicycle trails, mostly in DuPage County, Illinois. Portions of the trail extend west to Kane County and east to Cook County. Most of the trail i ...

to terminate further east, at the Forest Park station. The bridge and approaches opened in late October 2006, after lighting and emergency

call box Kutless is an American Christian rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1999. Since their formation, they have released multiple studio albums and one live album, ''Live from Portland''. They have sold over 3 million records worldwide. ...

es were installed. On December 16, 2012, the CTA discontinued the 17 Westchester route, leaving only Pace buses to serve Forest Park. The station is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week and 1,175,588 passengers used the station in 2011. Service between Forest Park and

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

was temporarily suspended on September 2, 2024, while police investigated

the shooting ''The Shooting'' is a 1966 American Western film edited and directed by Monte Hellman, with a screenplay by Carole Eastman (using the pseudonym Adrien Joyce). It stars Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Jack Nicholson, and wa ...

of four people sleeping in two cars of a Forest Park-bound Blue Line train shortly before 5:30 AM CDT. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, a fourth died in the hospital later. A suspect was later arrested by

Chicago Police The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United ...

at a Pink Line station in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

approximately 90 minutes later.

Bus connections

* 301 Roosevelt Road * 303 Forest Park-Rosemont * 305 East Roosevelt Road * 308 Medical Center * 310 Madison Street-Hillside * 317 Westchester * 318 West North Avenue

References

External links

Forest Park Station Page
{{CA&E, Main=y Forest Park, Illinois CTA Blue Line stations Chicago "L" terminal stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1905 Former Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin stations 1905 establishments in Illinois Former Chicago Great Western Railway stations