Harlem/Lake
1200W
100S
100S
Harlem is the terminus of the Green Line Lake Branch and is located in Oak Park. The current station opened on an elevated ROW which was built in 1962 alongside the Chicago & Northwestern (now Metra Union Pacific West line tracks). The new station replaced the former street-level Marion and Forest Park Stations. The station consists of a single island platform for terminating trains with trains continuing beyond the station to an elevated train storage yard. This platform is fully canopied with simple white frameworks.
At the western end of the platform a single staircase leads down to a tan 1964 station/substation/transportation office house which still has a CTA Metropolitan Transit logo on the sides of the building. This building and passenger entrance is located along the west side of Harlem Avenue, just north of Circle Avenue, south of the shared rail ROW. This entrance is closed between Midnight and 6:00am with passengers required to enter at Marion Street during these limited late night hours when there is Green Line Service (the Green Line is not an Owl, all night route).
The full time, more modern Marion Street entrance is at the eastern end of the platform, here a staircase, an escalator, and an elevator (at the extreme end of the platform) lead down to a more modern station house. This station house is shared with the Metra Union Pacific West Line's Oak Park Station, including a now-closed (as of 2017) Metra ticket office, and ramps directly up to Metra's two platforms. Doors lead out to the south side and north side (north side is included in the Metra station photos) of the Railroad viaduct to South Blvd and North Blvd, a short-ways east of Marion Street. There are bus loops and drop-off areas near both entrances.
Photos 1-7 taken on 3 August, 2012; 8-31 taken on 17 February, 2018
