The CTA is getting a facelift.
On Tuesday morning, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CTA President Forrest Claypool announced a new CTA station renewal initiative designed to provide a facelift to 100 CTA rail stations over the next year.
“Chicago is an international, world-class city, and my Administration is committed to investing in what’s right, to make sure every piece of it shines,” said Mayor Emanuel. “With this new Station Renewal program we'll have cleaner, brighter, more functional stations for CTA riders.” 
The initiative, performed by work crews comprised of different trade workers called the ‘Renew Crew’—focuses on providing repairs in a more efficient way, creating a cleaner, brighter and more appealing station that improves the customer travel experience.
“By consolidating disparate trades that used to operate independently – on different schedules and at different locations, the station renewal program will integrate supplemental specialized private trade contractors,” said Claypool. “This is sort of a SWAT team approach to comprehensively address all the outstanding issues at a station at once – cleaning, repairing and improving rather than the piecemeal approach used previously.”
Work done at each station will be determined by the station’s specific needs and configurations, but can include such work as new lighting, painting, repairs, power washing walls and ceilings, replacing signs and landscaping.
The first station to receive a renewal was the Logan Square Blue Line station. View the image gallery below for before and after photos of the station. The next station to undergo renewal is the California Blue Line station.
CTA is adding a link on its web site where customers can learn which station is receiving a renewal in addition to the next stations scheduled each month. The web site also will allow customers to provide feedback on the work completed.
For more on the CTA's Renewal Initiative, visit the links below.
Will you take the train more often if your local CTA station gets a facelift? Post your comments below or sound off on our discussion board!
