Much of the infrastructure along the Forest Park Branch of the Blue Line is original, dating back to 1958, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. While we have performed routine maintenance and made modest improvements over the last six decades, the infrastructure is far beyond its useful life and needs replacement or significant upgrades to address issues impacting day-to-day service, including:
Only 4 of the 11 rail stations along the branch are vertically accessible to people who use mobility devices.
Overall speed and reliability of service has declined, with 72 percent of the branch categorized as restricted “slow zones,” requiring trains to operate at drastically reduced speeds for safety.
Under the Forest Park Branch Rebuild, we will rebuild a total of seven (7) rail stations to make them meet modern accessibility guidelines; replace the entire trackbed and drainage system along the branch; and upgrade the traction power system to support the electrical needs of modern railcars to meet current and future ridership demands.
Rendering of the Racine entrance interior of Racine Station
Rendering of the Racine entrance exterier of Racine Station
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