What is this?
From time to time, people try and set a record for who is the fastest to visit every train station on a given network, without using a car and relying only on mass transit or walking (London has a whole Wikipedia page on it).
Every time the a station opens or closes — like the new Damen station in August 2024 — the record resets. This means that even if our route is slow or delayed, it is the new best time because it is the only best time! To confirm the route and that we do visit every station open on the day, we'll take pictures of every station and post them here later.
Today (January 8th, 2024) me and Matt Gandler are braving the elements to set the first record for 2025 and possibly the first record since August. We're starting around 7am on the north side, and should be done in around 9 hours if everything goes to plan.
Why does it take so long?
The CTA has a number of "slow zones", a term the agency uses to describe areas where the trains cannot operate at full speed due to issues with the track / power / structure / other "temporary concerns".
This is particularly evident on the Blue Line's Forest Park branch, where 77% (!) of the track is under a slow zone, and which factored into our route choices for the day. You can see a full map of slow zones here.
Lastly, for anyone who is not from Chicago, our rail network is heavily focused around bringing people to and from downtown and less focused on cross-town travel (see a map here). This makes visiting each station once, while avoiding the amount of time spent "doubling back" to ride sections twice or more a challenge.
What's the route?
🟣🚇 Purple Line from Linden ▶ Howard
🟡🚇 Yellow Line from Howard ▶ Dempster-Skokie
(wait for the train to turn around)
🟡🚇 Yellow Line from Dempster-Skokie ▶ Howard🚇
🔴🚇 Red Line from Howard ▶ 95th/Dan Ryan
(wait for the train to turn around)
🔴🚇 Red Line from 95/Dan Ryan ▶ 63rd
🚶🚌 63 Bus from 63rd/Red ▶ 63rd/Green
🟢🚇 Green Line from Ashland/63rd ▶ Garfield
🟢🚇 Green Line from Garfield ▶ Cottage Grove
(wait for the train to turn around)
🟢🚇 Green Line from Cottage Grove ▶ Harlem/Lake
🚶🚌 Pace 318 Bus from Harlem/Lake ▶ Forest Park
🔵🚇 Blue Line from Forest Park ▶ O'Hare
(wait for the train to turn around)
🔵🚇 Blue Line from O'Hare ▶ Jefferson Park
🚶🚌 81 Bus from Jefferson Park ▶ Kimball
🟤🚇 Brown Line from Kimball ▶ Harold Washington Library
🌸🚇 Pink Line from Harold Washington Library ▶ 54th/Cermak
🚶🚌 54B Bus from 54th/Cermak ▶ Midway
🟠🚇 Orange Line from Midway ▶ Roosevelt
Other Links
Schedule Spreadsheet with timings
Threads and Bluesky links
List of past record attempts (everyone's, not just mine)
Unofficial Discord