page_title: Chicago Rapid Transit Company
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago Rapid Transit Company
caption_attribution_description: English: Chicago Rapid Transit (CRT) pin for employees. This pin is engraved with the employees’s name. pin has three pink faceted stones on gold with blue field and the letters C R T
context_page_description: The Chicago Rapid Transit Company was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between the years 1924 and 1947. The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago's current mass transit operator.
  Leading up to the consolidation of the 'L' companies into the CRT was decades of the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust, an entity directly attributed to utilities magnate Samuel Insull. CER laid the groundwork for the companies to become one, including financial agreements and simplification that allowed for free transfers between the various lines at the places where they shared facilities, such as at Loop elevated stations. CER also resulted in the through-routing of trains from one company's line to another, enabling riders to take a single train from Ravenswood on the Northwestern 'L' to 35th Street on the South Side 'L'.
  The CRT was an amalgamation of several elevated railroad operators, each of which operated service in a particular section of the city. These predecessors include:
  Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad,
  Lake Street Elevated Railroad,
context_section_description: The Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) was a privately owned firm providing rapid transit rail service in Chicago, Illinois and several adjacent communities between the years 1924 and 1947.  The CRT is one of the predecessors of the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago's current mass transit operator.     
  Leading up to the consolidation of the 'L' companies into the CRT was decades of the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust (CER), an entity directly attributed to utilities magnate Samuel Insull.  CER laid the groundwork for the companies to become one, including financial agreements and simplification that allowed for free transfers between the various lines at the places where they shared facilities, such as at Loop elevated stations.  CER also resulted in the through-routing of trains from one company's line to another, enabling riders to take a single train from Ravenswood on the Northwestern 'L' to 35th Street on the South Side 'L'.
  The CRT was an amalgamation of several elevated railroad operators, each of which operated service in a particular section of the city.  These predecessors include:
  Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad (providing service starting in 1892),
  Lake Street Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1893),
  Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1895),
  Northwestern Elevated Railroad (providing service starting in 1900).
  The CRT network was entirely at or above grade level until the 1943 opening of the State Street subway, now part of CTA's Red Line.
  Following World War II and the continuing financial malaise of the privately owned bus, streetcar and elevated/subway operators, both the city government of Chicago and the Illinois legislature favored consolidating the three separate systems into a single, public-owned authority.  The assets and operations of the CRT were assumed by the newly established Chicago Transit Authority on October 1, 1947.
caption: Chicago Rapid Transit (CRT) Pin for Employees
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (3rd generation)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "13.3.1", "Image DateTime": "2020:03:07 14:05:50", "Image TileWidth": "512", "Image TileLength": "512", "Image ExifOffset": "222", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "20", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2020:03:07 14:05:50", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020:03:07 14:05:50", "EXIF OffsetTime": "-06:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeOriginal": "-06:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeDigitized": "-06:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "24531/3691", "EXIF ApertureValue": "54823/32325", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "123761/16021", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "57789/29977", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "3", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2026, 1549, 739, 745]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "535", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "535", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1878", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1878", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "756/151", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "143", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[3, 3, 9/5, 9/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (3rd generation) back camera 3mm f/1.8", "EXIF Tag 0xA460": "2"}