CTA Launches Celebration to Mark 75 Years of Service

For 75 years, the CTA has connected customers and communities to activities and opportunities, and the agency has plans to celebrate the role the CTA has played in the city’s growth and progress.

In the coming months, the public can participate in activities celebrating the heritage of CTA, as the agency moves closer to a Diamond Jubilee Celebration in Daley Plaza, on Oct. 1, 2022.

"For 75 years, our dedicated, hard-working employees have kept CTA on track in providing the most equitable, accessible and affordable public transportation in the country,” said Dorval R. Carter, Jr., CTA president. “This is a milestone worth celebrating, and we have both entertaining and engaging anniversary activities planned for our customers.”

CTA's celebration includes commemorative pins and posters, to famous Chicagoans sharing their CTA memories on its social media channels, and CTA trains wrapped in vintage designs.

The CTA has “wrapped” its modern railcars in designs resembling vintage railcars that operated during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Red Line riders, for example, will see a green, cream, and orange-colored paint scheme from the 1950s, which was used on CTA's 6000-series railcars among other types. The Museum of Science and Industry is the sponsor of this railcar “wrap.”

In the coming weeks, other rail lines will feature other vintage designs. Butcher Boy Cooking Oils is sponsoring this mint green and alpine white look, which was on much of CTA’s ‘L’ fleet from the mid-1960s through the 1980s.

On Oct. 1, the public can ride around the loop aboard CTA’s actual Heritage Fleet of vintage trains and buses.