Western

Western is an elevated rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" Blue Line, where it is located on the O'Hare branch. The station, opened in 1895, is located within the Bucktown neighborhood in the larger Logan Square community area. It has two side platforms at track level with a station house at street level. Western was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad to serve its Logan Square branch. The Metropolitan's operations, along with the rest of the "L", were assumed by the private Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924 and the public Chicago Transit Authority in 1948. The rail lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan were significantly altered in the 1950s, a process that created the "West-Northwest Route" in 1958, which was renamed the Blue Line in 1992. After the West-Northwest Route was created, the Logan Square branch, renamed the "Milwaukee branch", was extended piecemeally to O'Hare International Airport between 1970 and 1984, becoming the modern O'Hare branch. Western station itself was significantly rebuilt in 1930, and again in 20002001. Both reconstructions maintained substantial pieces of the station's historical fabric while introducing many new elements and modernizations. History