Red Line — Chicago 'L'
95th/Dan Ryan ↔ Howard · 33 stations · runs 24 hours a day
Above: Belmont station on the Red Line · photo Victor Grigas · CC BY-SA 3.0
33
stations
64 min
end to end
5 min
at morning rush
24 h
service
About the Red Line
The Red Line is the ‘L”s busiest and its backbone: a straight north–south spine from Howard in Rogers Park, through the State Street subway under the Loop, and out to 95th/Dan Ryan on the South Side. If you only learn one line, learn this one — it passes Wrigley Field, the Magnificent Mile, downtown and Chinatown.
It also never closes. Along with the Blue Line it runs 24 hours a day, every day; overnight trains come every eight to ten minutes. Between Lawrence and Bryn Mawr the line has just been rebuilt: Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr all reopened in July 2025 and are now step-free for the first time.
The Red Line has 33 stations and takes about 64 minutes end to end. 26 of its stations are step-free, and it meets another ‘L’ line at 5 of them.
Every Red 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 Red Line trains run
| When | Mon–Fri | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early morning 4:00–6:30 am | 11 min | 13 min | 13 min |
| Morning rush 6:30–9:30 am | 5 min | 9 min | 10 min |
| Midday 9:30 am–3:00 pm | 6 min | 8 min | 8 min |
| Afternoon rush 3:00–7:00 pm | 5 min | 6 min | 8 min |
| Evening 7:00–10:00 pm | 7 min | 8 min | 8 min |
| Late night 10:00 pm–4:00 am | 8 min | 8 min | 10 min |
Typical gap between trains in one direction, worked out from CTA's published timetable. Real gaps vary.
First and last Red Line train
Where you can change lines
Questions about the Red Line
33 stations, running 95th/Dan Ryan to Howard. End to end it takes about 64 minutes.
Yes. It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with trains roughly every 8–10 minutes overnight. Only the Red and Blue lines do this.
$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 5 stations, including Howard, Wilson, Belmont, Fullerton, Roosevelt. At all of them the change is inside the station: walk across, no second tap and no extra fare.