CTA increasing weekly rail roundtrips by 20 percent

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is increasing its scheduled weekly roundtrips on rail lines by 20 percent with its fall 2024 service changes. With the new schedule, the agency is adding more than 1,200 weekly rail trips when compared to the spring 2024 schedule. 

The new rail schedule returns rail service levels to pre-COVID-19 pandemic service levels, with some strategic adjustments to better meet current ridership patterns. CTA notes current ridership retention across all rail lines compared to 2019 is highest on Saturdays and Sundays and the new schedule reduces some rush hour weekday service to allow CTA to deliver more weekend service, especially on Sundays. The agency says it will continue to analyze ridership trends and mobility patterns to determine additional service adjustments that can better meet evolving ridership.   

“As a result of our efforts, I am pleased to share that as promised, CTA has returned to pre-pandemic scheduled levels across all rail lines before the end of the year,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “To our loyal riders, we thank you for your patience. Hundreds of dedicated personnel throughout our agency worked tirelessly over the last couple years to recruit, hire and train the unprecedented number of employees needed to strengthen our workforce and get us where we are today and I look forward to building on our success next year, with more rail service improvements planned for 2025.” 

In 2024, CTA committed to training up to 200 new rail operators, double the amount from the previous year. CTA has trained and qualified more than 150 rail operators who have since been added into service, with the remaining cohorts of employees currently in training and expected to begin qualifying for rail operator status before the end of the year. CTA’s rail operator training courses allow for at least 20 participants per class, with up to three classes in training at a given time. 

As part of the agency’s proposed 2025 operating budget, additional bus and rail services are planned for the year ahead. As such, the agency will continue with its training efforts to qualify more bus and rail personnel to meet those needs.  

On the bus side, CTA says it has made significant progress in its goal to deliver pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. Through August, service levels have been improved on 58 bus routes throughout the service region, bringing the bus system back to 98 percent of pre-pandemic scheduled service levels. As part of the winter schedule, which is expected to roll out by the end of December, CTA will meet its goal of fully returning pre-pandemic scheduled bus service levels. 

CTA says it is currently second among peer transit agencies across the U.S. in year-over-year ridership growth. Ridership on the 58 bus routes that received additional service in 2024 is up 13 percent year-over-year, outpacing other routes, which grew by four percent year-over-year.