User:Lost on Belmont/Austin station (Chicago and North Western Railway)

Austin was a commuter railroad station on the Chicago and North Western Railway's Galena Division, now the Union Pacific West Line. The station was located at Central Avenue and Lake Street, directly in front of the Austin Town Hall, in the present-day Austin, Chicago neighborhood. Austin closed on December 1, 1958, as part of an effort by the Chicago and North Western to close twenty two stations within the city of Chicago and the close-in suburbs.

History
Line was built at-grade with the station serving what-was-then suburban Austin (a part of Cicero Township). Elevated onto an embankment in the circa 1910. The new station featured side-platforms on the northern and southernmost tracks on the west side of Central Avenue. The platforms were reached by staircases built into the side of the embankment leading to the ends of the platforms.

By the 1950s, Chicago and North Western management began to reassess its commuter service and came to the conclusion that the road could be operated more economically and efficiently by closing stations in and near Chicago and focusing on suburban and long-haul traffic. In June of 1958, the company went before the Illinois Commerce Commission requesting permission to abandon more than twenty stops, alter train schedules, revise its ticketing structure, and raise fares on monthly tickets. On November 14, the ICC ruled in favor of granting the majority of the North Western’s requests, including the closure of the Austin station. The fare increase and service alterations went into effect on December 1, 1958, and Austin was abandoned along with twenty one other stations either in or near Chicago on the Milwaukee, Galena, and Wisconsin Divisions.

After closure
C&NW abandoned the southern track(s). In October 1962, CTA elevated the western end of the Lake Street "L" onto the vacated southern portion of the embankment placing its Central station on the site of the abandoned CNW station. Today the entrance to Central occupies the location of the stairway to the Austin westbound platform.