CTA's Ride the Rails: Red Line to 95th/Dan Ryan Real-time (2019)

Ever wonder what it would be like to see Chicago as if you were a CTA train operator? In 2014, the Chicago Transit Authority released its most popular video series, “Ride the Rails,” a collection of videos highlighting CTA’s eight rail lines, each seen from the perspective of the rail operator. Since its release, “Ride the Rails” has garnered nearly 3 million views worldwide.

A lot has changed in five years: two new stations have been built (Washington-Wabash and Cermak-McCormick Place), two stations have been rebuilt (Wilson and 95th/Dan Ryan), and one station has been retired and demolished (Randolph/Wabash).

For the series’ 5th Anniversary, CTA is releasing an update to “Ride the Rails,” which you can view in both real-time and time-lapse versions. All eight lines have been recaptured from the operator’s perspective, this time in stunning 4K video. The CTA recorded the ride at various times of the day, including sunrise and sunset, and morning and evening rush hours. You’ll even learn facts about the CTA system in the real-time version.

So, hop aboard and enjoy the ride!

[BusaRider]

These are great and unique. I know these can be a pain for a busy, time strapped agency to set up - so it is even more appreciated!

[Elsisalittleconcerned]

I come back to this video whenever I can’t sleep. Love the sound of the L ever since I lived in Corcoran hall. We had our windows open due to being on the 4th floor and it was so hot and the redline was right next to us. She always lulled us to sleep.

[PeruvianPotato]

Who ever did the subtitles is a savior

[garyb]

My ride from the south side of Chicago to my job in Evanston, IL. for 15 years! I enjoyed allowing someone else to do the driving! One thing I loved about riding the trains was that you cool travel through the neighborhoods and see some cool parts of Chicago!

[santiagocano]

Thank You CTA for remodeling our stations.

[DavidSSabb]

40:00 for the abandoned Washington station.

Closed in 2006 for a planned Orange/Blue/Red superstation that never came to fruition. After that project was cancelled the station was not deemed to have high enough ridership to re-open, but you can still easily walk through it as the platform (the longest rail platform in North America) runs from Lake to Jackson

[lvjismij]

What a memory, I have rode all the lines of CTA as my college was nearby then. Then I become a guide for my parents to see the beautiful view of Chicago downtown.

[josephmuglia]

Thank you to the CTA for creating these great videos.

[sadssddsd]

Thank you soooo much for these, it must've been a HUGE effort setting the cameras, editing and uploading.The people in chicago are EXTREMELY LUCKY to have civil servants like yourselves.

[BigSam]

If you look really closely, you can see the track switch changing positions at 1:07:25.

[jaywad]

1. You are riding a *Red Line* train heading 'southbound' to downtown "Loop" area _thru the _*_State Street_*_ subway_ and 95th ( *95th/Dan Ryan* ).
2. Welcome, passengers aboard the Red Line run *#916*
3. _As you travel straight across (until you're right pass 'Ashland Blvd') and going "southeast" near your destination_ the first stop--next is *Jarvis* .
4. Mainly while traveling in the direction, on your left hand side, doors open at Jarvis.
5. You have now entered "Jarvis".
<Ding dong> "please stand clear of the doors while they are closing"
6. _As you travel straight until you make a right turn and you finally get onto 'Glenwood Ave' (near your destination)_ the next stop is *Morse* .
7. On your left hand side, doors open at Morse.
8. You have now entered "Morse".
9. _As you travel and you make another turn (going across 'southeast') until you're finally at 'Sheridan Rd' right by your destination_ the next stop is *Loyola* ♿ (Loyola University Chicago).
10. On your left hand side, doors open at Loyola.
11. You have now entered "Loyola".
12. _As you turn right and travel straight (in between Broadway and Winthrop Ave) and near your destination_ the next stop is *Granville* ♿.
13. On your left hand side, doors open at Granville.
14. You have now entered "Granville".
15. The next stop is *Thorndale* .
16. On your left hand side, doors open at Thorndale.
17. You have now entered "Thorndale".
18. The next stop is *Bryn Mawr* .
19. On your left hand side, doors open at Bryn Mawr.
20. You have now entered "Bryn Mawr".
21. The next stop is *Berwyn* .
22. On your left hand side, doors open at Berwyn.
23. You have now entered "Berwyn".
24. The next stop is *Argyle* .
25. On your left hand side, doors open at Argyle.
26. You have now entered "Argyle".
27. The next stop is *Lawrence* .
28. On your left hand side, doors open at Lawrence.
29. You have now entered "Lawrence".
30. _As you travel a 'quarter-southeast' across (right by 'Broadway') near your destination_ the next stop is *Wilson* ♿ (Harry Truman College).
31. Mainly while traveling in the direction, on your right hand side, doors open at Wilson.
32. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Purple Line* trains (if announced) at Wilson.
33. You have now entered "Wilson".
34. _As you travel steady across until you turn and go straight before you turn left--going "east" (after you get by 'Seminary Ave' and you turn _*_right by 'Irving Park Rd'_*_ ) near your destination_ the next stop is *Sheridan* .
35. On your right hand side, doors open at Sheridan.
36. You have now entered "Sheridan".
37. _As you turn right and travel straight (right in between 'Sheffield' and 'Wilton Avenues') near your destination_ the next stop is *Addison* ♿ (Wrigley Field - Home of the Chicago Cubs).
38. On your left hand side, doors open at Addison.
39. You have now entered "Addison".
40. The next stop is *Belmont* ♿.
41. On your right hand, doors open at Belmont.
42. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Purple (if announced)* & *Brown Line* trains at Belmont.
43. You have now entered "Belmont".
44. You are riding a train heading 'southbound' to ( ).
45. The next stop is *Fullerton* ♿.
46. On your right hand side, doors open at Fullerton.
47. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Purple (if announced)* & *Brown Line* trains at Fullerton.
48. You have now entered "Fullerton".
49. _As you enter the subway and travel straight _*_until_*_ you make a turn (right into 'Clybourn Ave') near your destination_ the next stop is *North/Clybourn* .
50. On your right hand side, doors open at North/Clybourn.
51. You have now entered "North/Clybourn".
52. _As you travel straight (on 'Clybourn Ave') and make another turn (going _*_left_*_ and east "again" onto 'Division St') before you get near your destination_ the next stop is *Clark/Division* ♿.
53. On your left hand side, doors open at Clark/Division.
54. You have now entered "Clark/Division".
55. _As you turn right (on 'State St') traveling straight before you get near your destination_ the next stop is Chicago/State ( *Chicago* ♿).
56. On your right hand side, doors open at Chicago/State.
57. You have now entered "Chicago/State".
58. The next stop is Grand/State ( *Grand* ♿).
59. On your right hand side, doors open at Grand/State.
60. You have now entered "Grand/State".
61. Passengers, we "special" thank you for boarding along the CTA's *Red Line* !
62. _As you enter the downtown "Loop" area_ the next stop is *Lake* ♿.
63. On your left hand side, doors open at Lake.
64. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Orange Green Pink Purple (if announced) Brown* & *Blue Line* trains at Lake.
65. You have now entered "Lake".
66. The next stop is *Monroe* .
67. On your left hand side, doors open at Monroe.
68. You have now entered "Monroe".
69. The next stop is *Jackson* ♿.
70. On your left hand side, doors open at Jackson.
71. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Blue Purple (if announced) Orange Brown* & *Pink Line* trains at Jackson.
72. You have now entered "Jackson".
73. The next stop is *Harrison* .
74. On your left hand side, doors open at Harrison.
75. You have now entered "Harrison".
76. The next stop is *Roosevelt* ♿ (Museum Campus).
77. On your left hand side, doors open at Roosevelt.
78. You can switch over--if you'd prefer to *Green* & *Orange Line* trains at Roosevelt.
79. You have now entered "Roosevelt".
80. _As you exit the tunnel or "subway" before you get near your destination (right by 'Wentworth Ave')_ the next stop is *Cermak-Chinatown* ♿.
81. On your left hand side, doors open at Cermak-Chinatown.
82. You have now entered "Cermak-Chinatown".
83. _As you travel and then you finally make another turn--boarding along the 'Dan Ryan' expressway (in between 'LaSalle St' and 'Wentworth Ave') near your destination_ the next stop is *Sox-35th* ♿.
84. On your left hand side, doors open at Sox-35th.
85. You have now entered "Sox-35th".
86. _As you travel straight until you turn across (going 'southwest') and in between 'LaSalle St' and 'Wentworth Ave' at your destination_ the next stop is *47th* ♿.
87. On your left hand side, doors open at 47th.
88. You have now entered "47th".
89. _As you get to your destination--traveling straight (in between 'Wentworth Ave' & 'Wells St')_ the next stop is *Garfield* ♿.
90. On your left hand side, doors open at Garfield.
91. You have now entered "Garfield".
92. The next stop is *63rd* ♿.
93. On your left hand side, doors open at 63rd.
94. You have now entered "63rd".
95. _As you travel straight and make another turn (going left _*_once more_*_ ) 'southeast' across before you make another turn _*_again_*_ after passing 'Marquette Rd' traveling straight for the 'last time' (in between 'State St' and 'Lafayette Ave') near your destination_ the next stop is *69th* ♿.
96. On your left hand side, doors open at 69th.
97. You have now entered "69th".
98. The next stop is *79th* ♿.
99. On your left hand side, doors open at 79th.
100. You have now entered "79th".
101. The next stop is *87th* ♿.
102. On your left hand side, doors open at 87th.
103. You have now entered "87th".
104. The next and the "last" stop--is 95th ( *95th/Dan Ryan* ♿).
105. You have now entered "95th", as farther away on this train as you'll go.
106. Please, all passengers leave the train immediately as you are being told.

[anmolmehta]

A lovely journey through Chicago city and through the south. I like how it goes between the highway amongst the speeding cars and trucks. Lovely quality video. Thanks for sharing. 😀😀

[chrisfinch]

When as a young kid loving trains and travel, I always loved riding on this line and others. But as I grew up later, I learned it can sometimes get very tough (with the type of people that are on there) and even boring, too. However, the fun part of the entire system, is reading the CTA announcements with the legendary Lee Crooks, including the infamous “doors closing” line. Never gets old anywhere.

[Neville]

14:31-We have a Lawrence Station here in Toronto (in fact, _two_ Lawrence Stations: Lawrence and Lawrence West), both of them at distant places on the Yonge-University-Spadina line, aka Line 1. Lawrence West is outside like some stations on the CTA subway.

15:44-There's also a Wilson station, which is one stop ahead on the YUS line towards the end nortward from Lawrence West station; it too is outside.

[Angelo_X_]

Whoa! It's interesting how the Purple Line was Express at first, then at Belmont (Without switching tracks) it's suddenly the Local and the Red Line becomes the Express.

I find that both shocking and amazing because I've never seen anything like that in NYC. Chicago's transit system is pretty cool, and I LOVE how fast the trains go.

Edit: As I keep watching this video, I'm also amazed at how the underground stations (well, some stations) are actually one LONG platform broken down into multiple stops. I would definitely Love to ride CTA trains in real life. Thanks for the Virtual Ride though! :)

[dansilt]

This is an amazing opportunity to me to remember when I lived in Chicago. Love it!

[zakurhako]

lived there 2011-2018 good memories thanks for the video

[haydnplus]

This is such a fun video to watch. I rode on this line when I was in Chicago about a month ago and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[EzraSacks]

This is fabulous! Thanks for taking the time to film it, and in 4k no less! CTA ftw.

[アルベート]

When I first came to America, 15 years ago, I was so excited to run trains because from where I stayed there were no trains. My parents decided for two days to ride all the cta lines from beginning to end and we eventually did. I was so young back then and now I don't really have the time again to do it. So thank you CTA for this video