by CHIP72
Here's something that's bothered me for a long time - why the heck aren't any of the CTA El routes directly connected or immediately adjacent to Chicago's Metra/intercity rail stations, especially Union Station? I realize the disconnect may be related to when the lines were built, but it still seems very odd to an outsider like me and a major drawback in Chicago's rail system. I mean, in Philadelphia some people wonder why the Market-Frankford El doesn't have an internal connection to 30th Street Station (both the primary Amtrak station and one of 3 primary SEPTA regional rail stations in Philadelphia), but the line still is only a very short 1/2 block walk from 30th Street. In New York, the subways are connected to both Penn Station (primary NYC Amtrak/NJ Transit/LIRR hub) and Grand Central Terminal (primary Metro-North hub), and some people complain that the midtown Manhattan PATH terminal is located too far away from Penn Station, yet it is only one (admittedly long) block away from Penn Station and is still connected directly to multiple NYC subway routes!
There's also something else related that bothers me - why don't the CTA El and Metra have more shared stations, or at least stations at the same, adjacent stops? It seems like from looking at a Metra map that if you want to transfer lines on Metra, you need to go all the way to downtown Chicago (and then possibly walk a few blocks) to get on another line, even if the Metra lines are relatively close to each other a few miles away from the Loop. If there were more connections between CTA and Metra service outside the Loop, this possible problem would be reduced.
I guess I really don't understand why Chicago's rail system is set up the way it is, because it seems to me it could work (or could have worked) more efficiently if things had been built slightly differently.
There's also something else related that bothers me - why don't the CTA El and Metra have more shared stations, or at least stations at the same, adjacent stops? It seems like from looking at a Metra map that if you want to transfer lines on Metra, you need to go all the way to downtown Chicago (and then possibly walk a few blocks) to get on another line, even if the Metra lines are relatively close to each other a few miles away from the Loop. If there were more connections between CTA and Metra service outside the Loop, this possible problem would be reduced.
I guess I really don't understand why Chicago's rail system is set up the way it is, because it seems to me it could work (or could have worked) more efficiently if things had been built slightly differently.
2009 Phillies/Yankees World Series - aka the Acela Series