Merchandise Mart (CTA station)

Merchandise Mart
Station statistics
Address	350 North Wells Street Chicago, Illinois 60654
Coordinates	41°53′19″N 87°38′02″W / 41.888675°N 87.633966°W / 41.888675; -87.633966Coordinates: 41°53′19″N 87°38′02″W / 41.888675°N 87.633966°W / 41.888675; -87.633966
Lines	Brown Line   Purple Line weekday rush hours only
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 Side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	December 5, 1930
Rebuilt	1988
Accessible
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	1,688,516[1]  3.8%
Services
Preceding station   Chicago 'L'   Following station Chicago toward Kimball Brown Line Washington/Wells toward The Loop Clark/Lake One-way operation Chicago toward Linden Purple Line Clark/Lake toward The Loop Washington/Wells One-way operation

Merchandise Mart is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the Near North Side at 350 North Wells Street in Chicago, Illinois (directional coordinates 320 north, 200 west). The original station was opened on December 5, 1930,^[2] and rebuilt in 1988. Prior to 1963 the station also served interurban trains of the North Shore Line. The primary purpose of the station is to serve the Merchandise Mart, one of the world's largest commercial buildings, although there are some galleries and restaurants nearby.

The station is elevated above street level, on a steel structure. The turnstiles and customer assistant booth of the current station are located on the second level of the Merchandise Mart itself. This is the main entrance to the station, although there are two fare-card only, unattended, entrances atop two long stairways accessed directly from Wells Street, just north of Kinzie Avenue. The station is constructed mostly of steel, with wooden platforms covered by a canopy most of their length. There are two side platforms both long enough to support eight-car trains, the longest possible on the CTA system. The southbound platform is just slightly below the level of the station entrance while an enclosed bridge over the tracks connects to the northbound platform on the opposite side. The station is fully accessible, resulting in a complicated elevator setup. The elevator on the southbound platform can lower from the entrance to the platform, as well as go up to the top of the bridge. Another elevator on the opposite side of the bridge lowers to the northbound platform.

Merchandise Mart primarily serves the Brown Line but Purple Line Express trains also stop there during weekday rush hours.

Merchandise Mart is the only Brown Line station not scheduled to receive substantial upgrades through the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project. Since it is of recent construction, is ADA-compliant, and is already of sufficient length to accommodate eight-car trains, no major modifications are needed.

Bus connections

CTA

• #11 Lincoln/Sedgwick
• #125 Water Tower Express

References

1. ^ "Annual Ridership Report: Calendar Year 2010" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/ridership_reports/2010-Annual.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
2. ^ "New "L" Station Opened at Merchandise Mart". Chicago Daily Tribune: p. 26. December 6, 1930. 

External links

Media related to Merchandise Mart (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Merchandise Mart at Chicago-'L'.org
• Train schedules at CTA official site
• Kinzie Street exit-only stairs from Google Maps Street View