Washington station (CTA Blue Line)

Washington is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. It is situated between the Clark/Lake and Blue stations in the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway and is near the Richard J. Daley Center.

History
Washington opened on February 25, 1951, as part of the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, the second of two subways to be constructed in Chicago. The station was entirely renovated from 1982 to 1984. As constructed, the station has two closed stairways to a lower level pedestrian transfer tunnel to the closed Washington station in the State Street subway. At midnight on October 23, 2006, the lower level transfer tunnel to the Red Line closed as part of the construction of a planned superstation under the Block 37 mall. On November 20, 2009, the pedway linking the Lake station's unpaid area to that of Washington reopened and beginning in May 2013, the CTA provided a farecard transfer through the pedway between the stations.

This is the northernmost of the three stations on one long continuous platform underneath Dearborn Street, with the stops at Monroe and Jackson being the other two.

Service
Washington is part of the CTA's Blue Line, which runs from O'Hare to downtown Chicago and Forest Park. It is the second station in the Loop from O'Hare and the fourth from Forest Park. The station is situated between the Clark/Lake and Blue stations. Blue Line trains serve Washington 24 hours a day every day; trains operate every 7 to 10 minutes during rush hour and midday operation, with longer headways of up to 30 minutes at night. 2,335,025 passengers boarded at Washington in 2010. There are two mezzanines for the station, Randolph-Washington, open 24 hours a day, providing a farecard transfer to the Red Line, and access to Daley Plaza. The second mezzanine is Washington-Madison, which is also open 24 hours a day.

Bus connections
CTA
 * J14 Jeffery Jump
 * 20 Madison (Owl service)
 * 22 Clark
 * 24 Wentworth (Weekdays only)
 * 28 Stony Island (Weekday Rush Hours only)
 * 36 Broadway
 * 56 Milwaukee
 * 60 Blue Island/26th (Owl Service)
 * 62 Archer (Owl Service)
 * 124 Navy Pier
 * 130 Museum Campus (Summer Service Only)
 * 157 Streeterville/Taylor (Weekdays only)