Trains.com

Abanadoned Chicago Super Subway Station

2489 views
3 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    March 2016
  • 1,568 posts
Abanadoned Chicago Super Subway Station
Posted by CandOforprogress2 on Monday, May 2, 2016 11:17 AM

WTH (What the Heck)? and BTW did Trains ever cover this?- Could be that the real use was a bomb shelter for bank executives in case La Salle street ever got hit by the the Russians.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/How-Chicago-Spent-400M-On-a-Subway-Superstation-to-Nowhere-293754431.html

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,480 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 10:08 AM

The station was a proposed part of the Block 37 development and would have served as a station for a proposed express rapid transit service to O'Hare on the Blue Line.  It was discontinued due to cost overruns and the fact that an express service was impractical.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    May 2016
  • 7 posts
Posted by Paul Chi on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 4:56 PM
Large cities now tend to be "employers of last resort", meaning that they often employ people unable to get jobs in the private sector. The result is often an awesome level of incompetence. We've seen the same issue lately with the Washington DC metro system. The problems tend to be magnified when they have access to OPM (Other People's Money).
  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 9:34 PM

Shades of the Cincinnati Subway built in the late 20's and no trains ever entered it. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Subway

The subway bonds were paid off in 1966 at a total cost of $13,019,982.45.

Today, a water main runs through part of it.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy