CTA Red Line: Howard-Bound Trains Skip Seven Stations All Weekend, and the 63rd Street Station Closes Until Sunday Morning

North Side Red Line riders face a reshaped trip all Halloween weekend. Howard-bound trains are running express from Sheridan to Loyola until 4 a.m. Monday, November 2, bypassing Wilson, Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Thorndale and Granville, the Chicago Transit Authority said in its weekend service notice. The work is track construction for the Purple Express Improvement Project, and the CTA advises customers to allow extra travel time.

Southbound 95th-bound trains are not affected and serve every station. Riders at the seven bypassed stations should take a 95th-bound train to Sheridan and transfer to a Howard-bound train, the CTA said, and riders heading to those stations should ride to Loyola or Howard and transfer back to a 95th-bound train. The same bypass returns next weekend, from Friday night, November 6, to Monday morning, November 9, and the CTA says Purple Express trains will provide faster, smoother and more reliable service once the project is completed later this fall.

On the South Side, the 63rd Street Red Line station is closed from 12:01 a.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday because of Illinois Department of Transportation construction on the 63rd Street Bridge. Red Line trains bypass the station in both directions during the closure, and free shuttle buses operate from both the Garfield and 69th Street Red Line stations to serve affected customers.

The CTA is also running extra service for the weekend’s events, including the #19 United Center Express for Sunday’s 6 p.m. Bulls game against Orlando and Monday’s 7:30 p.m. Blackhawks game against Los Angeles, with extra buses leaving Michigan and Randolph about two hours before each event.