The newly-installed elevators at CTA’s Belmont and Fullerton stations are now available for customers.  The elevators at Fullerton opened on Thursday, December 31 and the elevators at Belmont began service as of Tuesday, December 29, 2009.

With the elevators at Belmont and Fullerton, a total of 91 out of the 144 CTA rail stations are accessible to customers with disabilities.  All CTA buses and trains are accessible.

The elevators at Belmont and Fullerton were installed as part of the CTA’s larger $530 million Brown Line capacity expansion project, which is designed to increase capacity and accessibility and bring 18 stations along the line to a state of good repair.

Belmont and Fullerton are the last of 18 stations renovated through the project.  The two stations have remained open during construction and they are scheduled to be fully complete by the end of 2009.

Renovations at the Brown Line Belmont and Fullerton stations include brighter lighting, tactile edging, Braille signs and wheelchair accessible turnstiles, an upgraded public address system and expanded platforms.

Read the complete press release.

As of Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 5 a.m., construction is completed on the southbound track at Fullerton and service is available on both southbound tracks signaling the end of three-track operation during rush hour at Fullerton. Three-track operation is still in place at Belmont.

Since March 30, southbound Brown, Red and Purple Express trains have been limited to one southbound track at Belmont and Fullerton while the platforms are being rebuilt and tracks reconfigured to allow room for the installation of elevators.

The restoration of normal southbound service at Fullerton means trains can operate more freely south allowing for smoother operation for Red, Brown and Purple Line Express trains arriving at the station.

CTA expects to conclude the three-track operation at Belmont by the end of the year. In May, CTA announced that it was accelerating the three-track project in order to restore the southbound track to service by the end of 2008, six months earlier than previously announced.

The first phase of three-track operation began Monday, April 2, 2007. Red, Brown and Purple Express trains shared one northbound track at Fullerton and Belmont. Normal northbound service resumed in March 2008.

On an average weekday more than 13,000 Red, Brown and Purple Express customers board at Fullerton. The Brown Line is one of CTA's busiest rail lines, serving more than 80,000 customers each weekday, with 19 stations from Kimball on the north to the downtown Chicago Loop.

Read the complete press release.

The construction work to realign the tracks at the Belmont and Fullerton Brown Line stations will be accelerated, allowing the CTA to restore the southbound track to service by the end of 2008, six months earlier than previously announced.

Southbound Brown, Red and Purple Express trains have been limited to one southbound track at Belmont and Fullerton since March 30 while the platforms are being rebuilt and tracks reconfigured to allow room for the installation of elevators at both stations. As a result of three-track operation, CTA has supplemented bus service near the stations and added personnel and signage in an effort to assist affected customers.

In addition, the CTA announced that it will add escalators to the Belmont and Fullerton stations. The original plans provided space for future installation of escalators but because the project remains within its budget and on schedule the CTA has determined that there are sufficient funds to install two escalators at each station. The escalator installation is scheduled to be completed by December 2009.

Read press release.

The next phase of three-track operation at the Belmont and Fullerton stations has started.

Effective March 30, 2008, southbound trains are limited to one track at the Belmont and Fullerton stations due to construction for the Brown Line capacity expansion project.  To help ease the impact, the CTA is operating eight-car trains on the Brown Line during morning and evening rush hours.  The introduction of eight-car service has occurred nearly 18 months earlier than originally planned.

Read more about three-track operation.

Northbound Red Line trains resumed operating on the inner northbound track at Fullerton station, track 3, on Friday, January 25, 2008. Construction crews have completed northbound track work at Fullerton so northbound Red Line trains will no longer have to share tracks with northbound Brown and Purple Express trains. Northbound Red Line customers have resumed normal boarding and exiting at Fullerton.

Red, Brown and Purple Express trains have shared one northbound track at Fullerton since April 2, 2007 while the platform was rebuilt and tracks were reconfigured. (more)

Fullerton Buses Reroute August 29-30

Due to construction at the Fullerton station, #74 Fullerton buses will undergo a reroute near the Brown/Red station on Wednesday, August 29 and Thursday, August 30 from 9:15 p.m. each evening
until 5 a.m. the next morning.

Buses will travel over the regular route to Sheffield then will operate via Lincoln, Halsted, Webster, Sheffield then return to Fullerton and resume the regular route.