Forest Park 7650W 700S | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 711 Des Plaines Avenue Forest Park, Illinois 60130 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°52′27″N87°49′02″W / 41.874257°N 87.817318°W /41.874257; -87.817318 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | CTA,Village of Forest Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line | Forest Park Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1island platform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Elevated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parking |  1,051 spaces | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | March 11, 1905; 120 years ago (1905-03-11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1953; 72 years ago (1953), 1959; 66 years ago (1959), 1981–1982; 43 years ago (1982) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous names | Des Plaines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 378,293[1]  7.9% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Forest Park is astation on theChicago Transit Authority's'L' system, located in the village ofForest Park, Illinois and serving theBlue 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 asDes Plaines until 1994. It is also referred to as theForest Park Transit Center byPace because it is a major terminal for Pace buses.[2] The station contains a 1,051-spacePark and Ride lot which uses the "Pay and Display" system, in which fees are paid at the lot entrance. It is located south of theBaltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad tracks which curve to the north of the station towardsMadison Street wherethe line rechristens itself to theCanadian National Railway's Waukesha Subdivision.
Forest Park opened in 1902, as a localinterurban station on theAurora Elgin and Chicago Railway. On March 11, 1905, theMetropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad extended itsGarfield 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 theEisenhower Expressway, 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 350 meters (1,148 ft 4 in) 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 theDes Plaines River between Maywood and Forest Park. The bridge and new approaches permit a direct crossing over the Des Plaines River, allowing the main stem of theIllinois Prairie Path to terminate further east, at the Forest Park station. The bridge and approaches opened in late October 2006, after lighting and emergencycall boxes were installed.[3]
On December 16, 2012, the CTA discontinued the 17 Westchester route, leaving only Pace buses to serve Forest Park.[4]
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 andAustin was temporarily suspended on September 2, 2024, while police investigatedthe shooting of four people sleeping in two cars of a Forest Park-bound Blue Line train shortly before 5:30 AMCDT. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, a fourth died in the hospital later. A suspect was later arrested byChicago Police at aPink Line station inChicago approximately 90 minutes later.[5][6]
