Heading to O'Hare This Week? Blue Line Trains Single-Track Three Straight Nights, and Shuttle Buses Take Over Two Weekends
The CTA's O'Hare branch work starts Monday night between Montrose and Harlem, moves to Jefferson Park–Harlem on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and then gives way to full weekend bus substitutions between Jefferson Park and Harlem on Nov. 6–9 and Nov. 13–16.
Blue Line riders headed for O'Hare should budget extra time starting Monday night. The Chicago Transit Authority has announced three consecutive nights of single-track service on the O'Hare branch, followed by two November weekends when shuttle buses will replace trains outright between Jefferson Park and Harlem, according to the CTA schedule summarized by Secret Chicago in a report read in full by this desk.
The overnight windows, all local time, are: Monday, November 2 at 10 p.m. through Tuesday, November 3 at 4 a.m., with trains sharing one track between Montrose and Harlem; Tuesday, November 3 at 10 p.m. through Wednesday, November 4 at 4 a.m., single-tracking between Jefferson Park and Harlem; and Wednesday, November 4 at 10 p.m. through Thursday, November 5 at 4 a.m., again between Jefferson Park and Harlem. Riders should expect a boarding change and minor delays on each night. The weekend substitutions run continuously — not just overnight — from Friday, November 6 at 10 p.m. through Monday, November 9 at 4 a.m., and again from Friday, November 13 at 10 p.m. through Monday, November 16 at 4 a.m.; if a trip crosses the Jefferson Park–Harlem stretch on either weekend, that portion runs by shuttle bus.
Two clarifications from the CTA's own listing matter for riders. The Harlem in these alerts is the O'Hare-branch station, not the Harlem station on the Forest Park branch. And the line's normal service is 24 hours a day between O'Hare and Forest Park via downtown, which is why the overnight windows bite for early flights and late rides home. Separately, the CTA lists the Addison Blue Line elevator as temporarily out of service, with the outage beginning Sunday, November 1 at 1:29 p.m. and its end time listed as to be determined. This O'Hare-branch work is distinct from the Dearborn subway single-tracking between LaSalle and Grand late Monday night that this station reported earlier today.
