The newest addition to CTA's 'L' system opened last week. The Washington Wabash 'L' station took 18 months and $75M to build, and has immediately become one of the system's busiest stations. It is the first new downtown 'L' station to be built in 20 years.

The Washington Wabash station allows for boarding of Green, Orange Brown, Pink and Purple Line trains, intersects Jeweler's Row and is steps from Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center and Loop shopping and theater districts. It will provide more than 10,000 rides and 13,000 passengers daily, features a striking architectural “skeletal steel” canopy that provides extensive coverage of the station’s platform from end to end, and has four elevators, an escalator and a platform that is wider than most others in the Loop.

The Washington Wabash station will replace the Randolph Wabash station one block north. That station and the already closed Madison Wabash station were 120 years old. The Madison Wabash station was demolished while construction of the new station was in progress. Construction funding was provided through a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement grant, which funds transportation projects that reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

The Washington Wabash station is only one improvement project along the 'L' system. Former President Barack Obama's administration awarded $1B in grants to fund improvements along the North Side Red and Purple Lines in January.