The Chicago Metro is the fastest and most straightforward transport system in the city.

Most trains run on elevated tracks, including through the city centre. You’ll therefore enjoy lovely views of the Chicago skyline even from the metro.

Chicago “L”

To avoid any confusion, let’s start by clarifying that both locals and official materials from the CTA refer to the Chicago underground as "L-Trains".

The name derives from the term ‘ „elevated“ ’, referring to the elevated structures built for trains in the city centre.

Fares on the ‘L-Trains’

You can find out how much Chicago metro tickets cost below.

Ticket validity	Price
Single-journey - 2 hours - maximum of 3 metro journeys	2,50 usd
1 day (valid for 24 hours)	5 usd
3 days (valid for 72 hours)	15 usd
One week (valid for 168 hours)	20 usd

A single-use transfer ticket valid for 2 hours can only be used on the metro system. If you are transferring from the metro to buses, you must pay a new fare; see the information on bus tickets in the Transport section.

All-day and multi-day tickets, on the other hand, are valid for an unlimited number of journeys on both the metro and CTA buses.

You can find the official website with current prices here:transitchicago.com/fares.

A special single-journey fare of 5 usd applies when travelling from the airport Chicago O'Hare ORD. However, if you purchase a day pass or a multi-day pass, this fare will apply from the airport.

Where can I buy tickets?

There are three ways to buy metro tickets.

• PAYG (Pay-as-you-go)– paying with your own contactless card (mobile phone or smartwatch) is convenient when using single-journey tickets. There are no daily limits, so if you travel frequently, you’ll end up paying significantly more than $5 per day – which is the price of an all-day ticket.
• Ventra Card– a standard chip card purchased from a ticket machine at any metro station. The card is free if you top it up with more than $5, so it’s only worth it for all-day and multi-day tickets.
• Ventra mobile app– via the mobile app, you can purchase a Ventra card onto which you can top up either any amount or a day pass/multi-day pass. The card will be loaded onto your mobile via NFC technology (as with contactless payments).

How do you use the tickets?

Before entering the platform, you pass through a turnstile. Simply hold your Ventra card or your own payment card up to the yellow reader and walk through the turnstile. You do not need your ticket when exiting.

If you have your own contactless card or a Ventra Card stored on your mobile phone or smartwatch, simply hold your mobile phone or smartwatch up to the same yellow reader.

Map and metro lines

Chicago operates a total of 8 metro lines, 7 of which converge in Downtown.

Four of these seven lines form the famous Chicago Loopcircular route around the whole of the city centre. The remaining two lines (the Blue and Red lines) cross the city centre on their own tracks from north to south.

• Blue– runs from the airport O'Hare ORD to the city centre, where it turns westwards and heads towards the Forest Park neighbourhood
• Red– the busiest route runs along the Chicago waterfront from north to south through the city centre.
• Orange– runs from the airport Midway MDW to the city centre, where it travels clockwise around the entire Chicago Loop and returns
• Green– this busy route connects the western suburb of Oak Park with the city centre, where it joins the eastern section of the Chicago Loop and continues towards the southern suburbs
• Pink– runs from the south-western suburb of Cicero to the city centre, where it travels clockwise around the entire Chicago Loop and returns
• Brown– runs from the north-western suburb of Kimball to the city centre, where it travels the entire length of the Chicago Loop anti-clockwise and returns
• Purple– runs from the far northern suburb of Linden to the northern terminus of the Red Line, where a change is possible. However, during the morning and afternoon rush hours on weekdays, all Purple Line trains run alongside the Red Line on the same route as far as the city centre, where they travel clockwise around the Chicago Loop and return
• Yellow– the shortest route connects Howard station (Red and Purple lines) with the northern suburb of Skokie

Timetables and frequency

Trains on all lines run on weekdays from Monday to Friday approximately every 4 to 8 minutes during the day.

At night and at weekends, services run every 10–15 minutes.

Theblueandredlines operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Other routes run roughly from 4.00 am to 1.30 am.

You can find the full timetables for all routes on the websitetransitchicago.com/schedules.