UPTOWN — Wondering why your morning Purple Line express train is not running express from Howard to Belmont anymore?
Instead, the southbound trains are making extra stops at Wilson, Sheridan and Addison.
It's all because of the $203 million reconstruction of the Wilson Station — a multi-year project that including modernizing the station, rebuilding the tracks, eliminating slow zones and more, said CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase.
The first phase of the work has taken out part of the outside track of the four-track system. That's the track the Purple Line uses to run express and avoid the Red Line trains on the inside track.
But now that the Purple and Red lines trains are running on the same inside track between Wilson and Belmont, the CTA decided to have Purple Line trains just stop at the stations.
The CTA estimates the new stops are adding between four and six minutes to the Howard to Belmont run.
It's only for the southbound Purple Line express trains, which means it's only in the mornings. It does not impact the northbound evening express trains.
This phase of the project will last for about a year. Then the northbound side will be tackled.
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