Merchandise Mart station

Merchandise Mart^[2][3] is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the Near North Side neighborhood at 350 North Wells Street in Chicago, Illinois (directional coordinates 320 north, 200 west). The station is elevated above street level, on a steel structure. The turnstiles and customer assistant booth of the station are located on the second level of the Merchandise Mart itself. This is the main entrance to the station.

Merchandise Mart   320N 200W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	350 North Wells Street Chicago, Illinois 60654
Coordinates	41.888675°N 87.633966°W / 41.888675; -87.633966
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	North Side Main Line
Platforms	2 Side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Platform levels	1
Parking	No
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	December 5, 1930; 93 years ago (1930-12-05)
Rebuilt	1987–1988; 36 years ago (1988)
Passengers
2020	580,038[1]  74.1%
Rank	34 out of 143
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Chicago toward Kimball Brown Line Washington/​Wells Loop-bound terminus Clark/Lake One-way operation Chicago toward Linden Purple Line Express Clark/Lake Loop-bound terminus Washington/​Wells One-way operation
Former services Preceding station Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad Following station Grand Avenue toward Milwaukee North Shore Line Clark/Lake One-way operation Randolph/Wells toward Roosevelt Road Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Grand Closed 1970 toward Howard North Side main line North Water Terminal Terminus Clark/Lake One-way operation Randolph/Wells Closed 1995 toward Loop (Randolph/Wells)
Track layout Legend Brown to Kimball Purple Express to Linden Kinzie St. Merchandise Mart Chicago River Brown and Purple Express to the Loop
Location

There are two fare-card only, unattended entrances atop two long stairways accessed directly from Wells Street, just north of Kinzie Avenue. The station is constructed mostly of steel, with wooden platforms covered by a canopy most of their length. There are two side platforms both long enough to support eight-car trains, the longest possible on the CTA system. The southbound platform is just slightly below the level of the station entrance while an enclosed bridge over the tracks connects to the northbound platform on the opposite side.

The station is fully accessible, resulting in a complicated elevator setup. The elevator on the southbound platform can lower from the entrance to the platform, as well as go up to the top of the bridge. Another elevator on the opposite side of the bridge lowers to the northbound platform.

History

Kinzie station

Kinzie was a station on the Northwestern Elevated Railroad's North Side Main Line. The station was located at Kinzie Street and Wells Street in the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago. Its location once served the nearby C&NW passenger terminal, Wells Street Station, prior to the 1911 opening of a new C&NW terminal at today's Ogilvie Transportation Center.^[4]

Kinzie opened on May 31, 1900,^[5] and closed in 1921; it was replaced by the Grand station.^[6] Today, Kinzie Street is serviced by Brown Line and Purple Line Express trains at Merchandise Mart station.

Merchandise Mart station

The current station opened on December 5, 1930, and was rebuilt from 1987 to 1988. Until 1963 the station also served interurban trains of the North Shore Line. The primary purpose of the station is to serve the Merchandise Mart, one of the world's largest commercial buildings, although there are some galleries and restaurants nearby.

Service

Merchandise Mart serves the Brown Line, but Purple Line Express trains also stop at the station during weekday rush hours. Merchandise Mart was the only Brown Line station not scheduled to receive upgrades or renovation during the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project. Because of its recent construction from 1987 to 1988, the station is accessible to passengers with disabilities and is already of sufficient length to accommodate eight-car trains, thus no major renovation was needed during the project.

Bus connections

CTA

• 37 Sedgwick (Weekdays only)
• 125 Water Tower Express (Weekday rush hours only)

References

1. "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2020" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 19, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
2. "Merchandise Mart". Chicago Transit Authority. transitchicago.com. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
3. Cox, Jeremiah. "Merchandise Mart". The Subway Nut. subwaynut.com. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
4. "Chicago and Northwestern Passenger Terminal". Chicagology. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
5. "Room For All to Ride". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 30, 1900. p. 12.
6. Garfield, Graham. "Kinzie". Chicago-L.org. Retrieved January 24, 2010.

External links

Media related to Merchandise Mart (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Merchandise Mart at Chicago-'L'.org
• Train schedule (PDF) at CTA official site
• Kinzie Street exit-only stairs from Google Maps Street View