Forest Park
7650W
700S
700S
Forest Park is the terminus of the Blue Line. It was originally a station on Metropolitan 'L' (that the Eisenhower Expressway was built over) which opened a station here in 1906 called Desplaines for the station's location. The Eisenhower Expressway gradually replaced the original line but this station remained in a temporary form 1960 when the Eisenhower Expressway Line was fully opened until 1982 when it was finally rebuilt into its modern form as the Forest Park Transportation Center, with 1051 park'n'ride spaces in parking lots both and north and south of the station, costing $5 per day.
The station has a single elevated island platform with a canopy covering both the tracks and platform held up by supports only on the outside of the tracks for the entire length of the station. Trains enter the station on the northern track, discharge there passengers before continuing beyond the station and relaying using a loop track located and reenter service with the operator not needing to change direction on the opposite side of the platform. The loop track connects to the Forest Park yard that loops around to the southern side of the station area.
To leave this platform, an elevator, a staircase/up escalator and an staircase lead down to a wide fare control area beneath the tracks. Here turnstiles and a few high exit turnstiles lead to both sides of the elevated structure just west of Des Plains Avenue (whose underpass is just before the edge of the station). This mezzanine is decorated by tons of little blue mosaic tiles. To the northside this leads to a three bay covered bus loop with a Blue roof with white text. Here, 11 connecting PACE bus routes and 1 CTA Bus Routes stop. Staircases lead up to the top of a hill and the majority of the large number of Parking Spaces. Another exit leads from the south side of the station house to a smaller covered Kiss'n'Ride area before leading to more parking spaces.
All Photos taken on 3 August, 2012
