Purple Line — Chicago 'L'
Howard ↔ Linden · 26 stations · every 8 minutes at rush hour
Above: Linden station on the Purple Line · photo SecretName101 · CC BY-SA 4.0
26
stations
53 min
end to end
8 min
at morning rush
Overnight break
service
About the Purple Line
The Purple Line is really two services sharing one colour, and confusing them is the single most common mistake on this line.
All day, it is a shuttle between Linden in Wilmette and Howard, serving Evanston and Northwestern University — at Howard you change to the Red Line for downtown.
At weekday rush hours only, the Purple Line Express runs straight through from Linden to the Loop without changing, roughly 5:20–9:30am and 2:20–6:40pm. Outside those windows there is no Purple Line south of Howard at all — which is why our route planner will route you via the Red Line at lunchtime and via the Express at 8am.
The Purple Line has 26 stations and takes about 53 minutes end to end. 17 of its stations are step-free, and it meets another ‘L’ line at 17 of them.
Every Purple Line station, in order
Times are the cumulative journey from the first station, using the CTA timetable. A gold dot marks a station where you can change to another line.
How often Purple Line trains run
| When | Mon–Fri | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early morning 4:00–6:30 am | 14 min | 15 min | no service |
| Morning rush 6:30–9:30 am | 8 min | 12 min | 14 min |
| Midday 9:30 am–3:00 pm | 10 min | 12 min | 12 min |
| Afternoon rush 3:00–7:00 pm | 10 min | 12 min | 12 min |
| Evening 7:00–10:00 pm | 10 min | 12 min | 15 min |
| Late night 10:00 pm–4:00 am | 12 min | 12 min | 15 min |
Typical gap between trains in one direction, worked out from CTA's published timetable. Real gaps vary.
First and last Purple Line train
| Station | Mon–Fri | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linden | 5:07 am – 1:37 am | 5:30 am – 2:05 am | 6:25 am – 2:07 am |
| Central | 4:45 am – 1:40 am | 5:18 am – 2:09 am | 6:15 am – 2:10 am |
| Noyes | 4:43 am – 1:42 am | 5:16 am – 2:10 am | 6:13 am – 2:12 am |
| Foster | 4:42 am – 1:43 am | 5:15 am – 2:12 am | 6:12 am – 2:13 am |
| Davis | 4:41 am – 1:46 am | 5:14 am – 2:15 am | 6:11 am – 2:16 am |
| Dempster | 4:39 am – 1:48 am | 5:12 am – 2:18 am | 6:09 am – 2:18 am |
| Main | 4:38 am – 1:50 am | 5:11 am – 2:20 am | 6:08 am – 2:20 am |
| South Boulevard | 4:36 am – 1:53 am | 5:09 am – 2:23 am | 6:06 am – 2:23 am |
| Howard | 4:35 am – 1:20 am | 5:08 am – 1:42 am | 6:05 am – 1:50 am |
| Wilson | 5:24 am – 7:41 pm | — | — |
| Belmont | 5:29 am – 7:35 pm | — | — |
| Wellington | 5:31 am – 7:33 pm | — | — |
| Diversey | 5:32 am – 7:31 pm | — | — |
| Fullerton | 5:34 am – 7:30 pm | — | — |
| Armitage | 5:35 am – 7:28 pm | — | — |
| Sedgwick | 5:38 am – 7:24 pm | — | — |
| Chicago | 5:42 am – 7:21 pm | — | — |
| Merchandise Mart | 5:44 am – 7:19 pm | — | — |
| Clark/Lake | 5:47 am – 7:06 pm | — | — |
| Washington/Wabash | 5:50 am – 7:09 pm | — | — |
| Adams/Wabash | 5:51 am – 7:10 pm | — | — |
| Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren | 5:53 am – 7:12 pm | — | — |
| LaSalle/Van Buren | 5:54 am – 7:13 pm | — | — |
| Quincy/Wells | 5:55 am – 7:14 pm | — | — |
| Washington/Wells | 5:57 am – 7:16 pm | — | — |
Times are departures from that station, taken from CTA's timetable, and are the window in each direction combined.
Where you can change lines
Questions about the Purple Line
26 stations, running Howard to Linden. End to end it takes about 53 minutes.
On weekdays the first trains leave around 4:35 am and the last around 1:53 am, varying by station — the further along the line, the later the last train passes. There is no overnight service; if you are out late, the Red and Blue lines run 24 hours. First and last train at every station.
$2.50, the same as every other ‘L’ line and the same however far you travel. Transfers to another line are free within two hours.
At 17 stations, including Howard, Wilson, Belmont, Wellington, Diversey, Fullerton…. At all of them the change is inside the station: walk across, no second tap and no extra fare.
Weekday rush hours only: roughly 5:20am–9:30am towards the Loop and 2:20pm–6:40pm back. Outside those hours the Purple Line only runs between Linden and Howard, and you change at Howard for the Red Line. At weekends there is no Express at all.
State/Lake closed on 5 January 2026 to be rebuilt as a fully accessible station, and is due to reopen in 2029. Trains pass through without stopping. Use Washington/Wabash or Clark/Lake instead — both are step-free and both are a short walk away.