Dempster–Skokie station

For the station on the Purple Line in Evanston, see Dempster (CTA Purple Line station).
Dempster–Skokie
Location 5005 West Dempster Street
Skokie, Illinois 60077
Coordinates (8800 N/5000 W)
Owned by Village of Skokie
Line(s)
  Yellow Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Parking 441 Spaces
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened March 28, 1925[1]
Rebuilt 1993–94
Previous names Skokie Terminal, Dempster, Skokie
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 323,519[2][lower-alpha 1] Decrease 52.8%
Rank 132 out of 143[lower-alpha 2]
Services
Preceding station   Chicago "L"   Following station
TerminusYellow Line
toward Howard
Dempster Street Station
Location 5001 W. Dempster Street, Skokie, Illinois 60077
Coordinates 42°2′25″N 87°45′8″W / 42.04028°N 87.75222°W / 42.04028; -87.75222Coordinates: 42°2′25″N 87°45′8″W / 42.04028°N 87.75222°W / 42.04028; -87.75222
NRHP Reference # 95001005[4]
Added to NRHP February 28, 1996
Route map
Legend
Dempster St.

Yellow Line
to Howard

Dempster–Skokie, formerly known as Dempster, or Skokie, is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, on the Yellow Line at 5005 W. Dempster Street in Skokie, Illinois (directional coordinates 8800 north, 5000 west). It is one of three stops on the Yellow Line, and currently the terminus of line, although an extension of the line to Old Orchard Mall has been considered. It is one of two CTA rail stations in Skokie, and is at grade level. It is also one of two terminals (the other being O'Hare on the Blue Line) that doesn't have a rail yard assigned to it. All 6 cars assigned to the Yellow Line are stored at the Howard Yard. The Skokie Shops are located near the Yellow Line tracks, but the shops don't function as a yard, only as a shop for rail cars. This station is the only CTA rail terminal that does not have an island platform. Passengers who wanted to return to Howard from this station after leaving a train arriving at this station had to always pay an additional fare.

History

The station was originally constructed in 1925 as part of a new high-speed bypass route for the North Shore Line known as the Skokie Valley Route. Trains of the Chicago Rapid Transit Company's Niles Center Route also used this station as a terminal until that service was ended by the CTA in 1948. The North Shore Line ceased operating in early 1963, but the CTA instated a new service the following year which served a 'temporary' station on the same location. This service was known as the Skokie Swift and is now called the Yellow Line.

The current stationhouse has been in place since 1994. The original stationhouse, known as Dempster Street Station, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and stands 130 feet east of its original location, moved at a cost of $1 million in order to make space for the new station and its parking lot. The original station house is currently occupied by a Starbucks coffee shop and a law office; the Starbucks also has a drive-thru lane. The former station's address is 5001 West Dempster Street.

Service

The station houses bus stops for CTA and Pace buses and was once the Greyhound bus Skokie terminal.[5] However, Greyhound discontinued service to Skokie in 2012.

On June 8, 2011, the Chicago Transit Board approved the renaming of the Skokie station to Dempster–Skokie. This was done with the announcement of the Oakton–Skokie name for the infill station at Oakton.[6]

Skokie Shop

Skokie destination sign

In addition to the Skokie station, a maintenance depot also exists in Skokie. It opened in 1926 and was rebuilt in 1994 at the same time as the station. It is located at halfway between Skokie and Howard. Even if it is fairly eccentric towards the rest of the network, all maintenance activities are present in the Skokie Shop including two specialties: the electrical wiring and electronic train sets as well as a bodywork and painting workshop. The trains are not stored here since the nearby Howard Yard has them stored there.

Location

Dempster-Skokie is located at 5005 West Dempster Street at Dempster Street and Bronx Avenue. It is located in the village of Skokie, Illinois, which borders Chicago at its southwest corner and Evanston to its east. Dempster-Skokie is one of the two 'L' stations to serve the village of Skokie, the other one is Oakton-Skokie.

Bus connections

CTA

Pace

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ The Yellow Line was closed from May to October 2015 after the collapse of an embankment carrying the rail tracks.[3]
  2. ↑ Due to possible double-counting of physically-connected stations, the CTA's official 2015 tally of stations was 146, but for ridership purposes reported having only 143 stations.

References

  1. ↑ "15,000 Witness Official Opening of Niles Center "L"". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 29, 1925. p. 5.
  2. ↑ "Monthly Ridership Report – December 2015" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 11, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Hilkevitch, Jon (October 29, 2015), "CTA Yellow Line makes long ride back, ready to restart service", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 23 March 2016
  4. ↑ National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  5. ↑ "Greyhound.com: Locations: Skokie, Illinois". Greyhound. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  6. ↑ "CTA Changes Existing Yellow Line Station Name, Announces Names of New Yellow, Green/Pink Stations" (Press release). Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
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