The Chicago "L" is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid transit system in the United States in terms of total route length, at 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long as of 2014, and the third-busiest rapid transit system in the United States. In 2016, the "L" had 1,492 rail cars, eight different routes, and 145 train stations. In 2023, the system had 117,447,000 rides, or about 373,800 per weekday in the fourth quarter of 2023.
A Pink Line train approaches Randolph/Wabash.
Intramural Railway 1893
1922 vintage Chicago Rapid Transit Company "L" cars. This car had a trolley pole in addition to contact shoes on the trucks.
A steam train on the Lake Street Elevated Railroad
An elevated railway or elevated train is a railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure. The railway may be broad-gauge, standard-gauge or narrow-gauge railway, light rail, monorail, or a suspension railway. Elevated railways are normally found in urban areas where there would otherwise be multiple level crossings. Usually, the tracks of elevated railways that run on steel viaducts can be seen from street level.
Liverpool Overhead Railway, May 1951
NS 93 train on an elevated portion of the line 5 of the Santiago Metro
Two Wuppertal Schwebebahn trains meet above the street
Chicago "L" elevated tracks