# Red Line Express

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 27, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609 "2010-02-27T03:48:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![earlsofsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aca169/32.png) [@earlsofsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/earlsofsandwich)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/1 "2010-02-27T03:48:05Z")

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I live in Evanston, and when I return from Chicago on Saturday nights, every once in a while I get lucky and land on a “Red Line Express” going from Fullerton to Howard. How do I find when those things run?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/2 "2010-02-27T05:18:43Z")

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You probably couldn’t find it because it’s the Purple Line, not the Red Line and here’s the [link](http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/systemguide/purpleline.aspx) to the CTA.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/3 "2010-02-27T16:36:06Z")

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> [@MikeG](#):
>
> You probably couldn’t find it because it’s the Purple Line, not the Red Line and here’s the [link](http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/systemguide/purpleline.aspx) to the CTA.

I don’t think so. The Purple Line doesn’t run on weekends, except within Evanston.

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/4 "2010-03-01T02:00:21Z")

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Trains only run “express” when something got messed up. So I suppose you could arrange for someone to have chest pains at 35th, so the train would be 14 minutes behind schedule by the time it got to Grand, where the supervisor would tell the motorman to run express to get back on schedule.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/5 "2010-03-01T04:51:48Z")

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As mentioned, the Evanston Express (Purple Line) is a workday commuter express service, so it runs for the morning rush and the afternoon rush (and a couple hours before the thick of the rush.) The express service used to be even more express, with stops only at Belmont, Fullerton, and the Merchandise Mart before hitting the Loop.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-line-express/530609/6 "2010-03-01T04:54:16Z")

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Oh, I see you’re talking about Saturday nights. I have no idea what that train is. **Mr Downtown** ’s suggestion sounds reasonable if you did indeed get on a Red Line Express. I’ve seen this happen when scheduling gets all muddled up or trains bunch up sometimes. I don’t think this is a scheduled occurrence.