Happy Haul-idays!
The CTA on Friday released the schedule for its annual Holiday Train, a six-car CTA train adorned with holiday lights and decorations that stops at rail stations as part of a two-decade tradition.
The train will make its debut Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving and operate until Dec. 23, two days before Christmas. Meanwhile, this year, there will also be a CTA holiday bus that travels on nine bus routes that serve downtown.
Besides decorations on the inside and outside of the Holiday Train, there’s a flat car in the middle of the train that carries a CTA employee dressed as Santa. The train also smells of cinnamon.
The CTA has said the cost is minimal to operate the Holiday Train because the decorations are reused over years. Still, as a way to make money, the CTA in 2012 began searching for a corporate sponsor for the Holiday Train as part of a plan to selling naming rights to assets such as Bus and Train Tracker.
But while the agency has awarded sponsorships for the New Year’s Eve Penny Rides program and a program that allows Chicago Public Schools students free rides on their first day of school, it has not sold a sponsorship for the Holiday Train.
Normal CTA fares apply to board the Holiday Train, which makes stops at all stations along the respective routes. The train typically operates from 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 1 to 8 p.m. on weekends.
Riders can track the train with the CTA Train Tracker app, transitchicago.com/traintracker, which will feature a candy cane next to the train’s estimated arrival time.
The Holiday Train schedule:
Green Line: Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 2
Orange and Brown Line: Dec. 3-6
Pink Line: Dec. 9-10
Blue Line: Dec. 11-13
Red Line: Dec. 16, 18, 20, 22
Purple Line: Dec. 17, 19, 20
Yellow Line: Dec. 23
