For nearly four months, the Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line tracks in Skokie have sat idle after embankment along the north suburban route suddenly collapsed.
Now, officials say they expect the tracks to reopen by October.
Officials from both the CTA and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District have been working to fix the tracks, a process both agencies estimate could be completed by next month.
“The good news is the Yellow Line is on track to reopen next month,” said CTA spokesperson Brian Steele.
The tracks were shut down in May after a construction project unrelated to the CTA caused an embankment to collapse.
Officials initially said they expected the service outage to only last “several days” but later said it would take “several weeks” to fix.
Since the closure, the CTA has provided free shuttle service for all Yellow Line riders, though many say the shuttles take much longer than the train.
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“It takes a long time to get from here to Howard Street, probably about 35 minutes,” said Jennelle Barton, a regular Yellow Line rider.
Since the collapse, the Yellow Line has seen a steep decline in ridership, with officials estimating about a 50 percent loss.
“We know riders enjoy the Yellow Line,” said Steele. “We have been seeing increased ridership primarily due to the opening of the Oakton station. We are confident that those riders are going to return.”
