page_title: Chicago "L" rolling stock
section_title: 2600-series
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago "L" rolling stock / Current / 2600-series
caption_attribution_description: CTA 2842 (Budd 1981-88) heads up eastbound Douglas-O'Hare train preparing to depart Cicero-Berwyn Terminal (now called 54th &amp; Cermak) Cicero IL 7-17-94
context_page_description: The current rolling stock of the Chicago "L" rapid transit system consists of three series of railcars. The oldest series is the 2600-series which was built between 1981 and 1987 and refurbished between 1999 and 2002. The second series is the 3200-series, built between 1992 and 1994 and refurbished between 2015 and 2018. The third and newest series is known as the 5000-series; built between 2009 and 2015, they feature new technologies such as LED color signs, security cameras, new seating configuration, AC motors, and date and time.
  Plans call for the purchase of 7000-series cars to replace the 2600-series cars beginning in 2021, with options for additional cars that would replace the 3200-series cars.
  All cars are 12 ft tall and 48 ft 3 in long. They are 9 ft 4 in wide at the window sills but only 8 ft 8 in wide at the door sills. Currently, most railcars operating on the Chicago "L" are DC power only; the 5000-series features AC motors, but the traction power supply continues to use DC.
context_section_description: The 2600-series cars (numbered 2601–3200) were manufactured by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the same company that made the 2200-series, and first delivered to the CTA in 1981, in time for the upcoming O'Hare Airport extension of the Kennedy Line (now known as the northwestern end of the Blue Line). Originally, an order was made for 300 cars, but this order was later increased to 600 cars, all of which were delivered from 1981 until 1987. They were the last railcars to be built by the Budd Company, later renamed to Transit America. The cars were rebuilt by Alstom of Hornell, New York, from 1999 until 2002. They have few features to differentiate them from the earlier 2400-series cars, but nevertheless remain a mainstay of the "L".
  These cars make up most of the Blue Line fleet and all of the Orange Line fleet, and car 3458 (originally car 3032) can be found on the Brown Line. In June 2014, as more 5000-series cars were being delivered, The CTA began to transfer the Red Line's 2600-series cars to the Blue Line due to them being newer than the existing 2600-series Blue Line cars, transferring the Blue Line's older 2600-series cars to the Orange Line as an interim replacement for its 2400-series cars until the Red and Purple Lines are fully equipped with the 5000-series cars.
  Budd/Transit America had completed car 3200 on April 3, 1987. Car 3200 was not only the final railcar of the 2600-series order, but was the final railcar to be constructed by Budd/Transit America. Once the order was completed, Budd shut down its railcar business.
  The 2600-series cars will be replaced by the new 7000-series cars in the early 2020s.
caption: The 2600-series had red, white, and blue on the sides and the Spirit of Chicago logo prior to their rehab.
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