Ride the CTA Holiday Train

One of the things that make the holidays in Chicago extra special is the CTA Holiday Train.   For 31 years, a festive train carrying Santa and his reindeer runs through all of the CTA lines carrying joy and food baskets to Chicago community organizations. The train runs through December 20, 2022. See below for the schedule.

The CTA Holiday Train will feature Santa and his sleigh in an open-air, flat car carrying his reindeer and twinkling Christmas trees. 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 are decked out with multi-colored lights, red bows, garlands, and red and green overhead lighting.

As the train pulls into each station, Santa waves to the boarding passengers from his sleigh and passengers can take photos with him as they exit the train.

Here is the Holiday Train schedule:

Blue Line	Thu 12/15 Approx. 3:10p until 6:10p
Blue Line	Fri 12/16 Approx. 4:10p until 7:20p
Blue Line	Sat 12/17 Approx. 4:10p until 6:37p
Yellow Line	Tue 12/20 Approx. 3p until 7p

If you don’t ride the train, there’s also a CTA Holiday Bus. Santa perches on the roof hatch of the bus and waves. Holiday music plays and the bus exterior is decorated with Santa and his reindeer on a roof. Here is the CTA Holiday Bus schedule:

You can also use the Holiday Bus tracker to keep track of the bus schedule. Normal CTA fares of $2.50 for the train and $2.25 for the bus apply, which is a real bargain when you consider that it’s transportation and entertainment.

CTA Holiday Train and Bus

Through December 23, 2022

See train and bus schedules

$2.50 for the train and $2.25 for the bus