Ride the CTA Holiday Train
Prepare for the madness.
The Chicagoist published this article about riding the CTA Holiday train. It sounds pretty awful. On Saturdays they will be running a second Elves train behind the Santa train in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding on the Santa train. We’ll see.
When and Where
When: Nov. 23, -Dec. 21, 2018. The train generally operates from about 1pm to 8pm on weekends and 3pm to 7pm on select weekdays (schedules for each rail line will vary), and will make stops at all stations along the respective routes. Full schedule below.
Where: All CTA rail lines Regular CTA fares apply: $2.25 one way; $5.00 from O’hare.
What is it?
The Chicago Transit Authority is getting into the holiday spirit with the Holiday Train. Santa will ride on his own train and a second train (on Saturdays only) will carry his elves who will pass out candy canes and season’s greetings.
The outside of the six-car train is adorned with holiday seasonal images, thousands of twinkling lights with even more lights running across the tops of the cars. The interiors re decked out with thousands of multi-colored lights, red bows, garland, and red and green overhead lighting. The hand poles are wrapped to look like candy canes.
As the train pulls into each station, Santa waves to the boarding passengers from his sleigh on an open-air flatcar carrying his reindeer and decorated holiday trees.
Here’s my experience with the CTA Holiday Bus which is running Nov 27-Dec 23, 2018.
2018 Allstate CTA Holiday Train scheduleClick the dates below to see full details. (Unlinked dates will have detailed schedules added soon.) | ||
| Green Line & Orange Line | Fri 11/23 | |
 Green Line | Sat 11/24 | |
| Green Line & Orange Line | Tue 11/27 | |
| Orange Line & Brown Line | Wed 11/28 | |
| Orange Line & Brown Line | Thu 11/29 | |
| Orange Line & Brown Line | Fri 11/30 | |
| Orange Line & Brown Line | Sat 12/1 | |
| Pink Line | Tue 12/4 | |
| Pink Line | Wed 12/5 | |
| Blue Line | Thu 12/6 | |
| Blue Line | Fri 12/7 | |
| Blue Line (+ photo-only stop on Pink Line) | Sat 12/8 | |
| Red Line | Tue 12/11 | |
| Purple Line | Wed 12/12 | |
| Red Line | Thu 12/13 | |
| Purple Line | Fri 12/14 | |
| Red Line & Purple Line | Sat 12/15 | |
| Purple Line | Thu 12/20 | |
| Yellow Line | Fri 12/21 | |
= Photos with Santa; Elves’ Workshop Train in service and directly following the main holiday train
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