The Loop’s Randolph/Wabash station is now permanently closed

One of downtown Chicago’s oldest remaining ‘L’ stations has been permanently closed and is now slated for demolition. Service at the Loop’s Randolph/Wabash station formally concluded on Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m. as the station—along with the former stop at Madison-Wabash—has been replaced with the brand new $75 million superstation at Washington-Wabash.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, crews will begin wrecking and removing the Randolph/Wabash station later this month. Signs were posted at the entrances of the station over the weekend to alert CTA riders of its permanent closure.

Originally opened in 1896, the Randolph/Wabash station has been servicing the city’s downtown for over 120 years. The original station houses at the Randolph/Wabash stop were removed in the 1950s and 1960s and were replaced with the ones faced with corrugated steel and the now-vintage CTA logo. The station made a number of cameos in popular film during its lifetime, including brief appearances in the classic 1987 movie Adventures in Babysitting and 1995’s While You Were Sleeping.

Downtown commuters and tourists will now rely on service at the brand new Washington-Wabash station just steps away. Designed to replace two stations, the CTA anticipates that the Washington-Wabash station will see over 13,000 riders per day.

• New L station opens in the Loop; Randolph/Wabash to close this weekend [Sun-Times]
• Bit of Chicago movie history goes with Randolph/Wabash L stop closing [Sun-Times]
• The Loop’s new Washington-Wabash ‘L’ station opens August 31 [Curbed Chicago]
• A Farewell to The Loop's Madison-Wabash Station [Curbed Chicago]