The Chicago Aurora and Elgin continued to use the terminal, though a problem loomed as plans for a new superhighway - the Congress Street Expressway - called for the road to be built on the route of Garfield Park 'L', necessitating the demolition of the elevated structure. Later that year, on December 9, Garfield and Douglas service was revised and those services were also withdrawn from Well Street Terminal, thus ending all 'L' service to the station. On February 25, 1951, all Milwaukee (Logan Square) trains were rerouted into the new Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway, with all Humboldt service to a shuttle operation to Damen. At the same time, all Logan Square trains were routed onto the Loop, leaving only Humboldt trains and certain Garfield and Douglas runs serving Wells. In 1948, Humboldt Park branch service was cut back to Damen at all hours except during rush hour, when the trains served Wells Street Terminal. With changing traffic patterns and increasing use of automobiles resulting in lower train frequencies, CTA was able to end 'L' service to the terminal late the same year.Īfter the CTA took over 'L' operations after World War II, service to the Wells Street Terminal was decreased as operations were revised. With the completion of the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway in 1951, Logan Square trains were rerouted into the subway, terminating at the temporary terminal LaSalle/Congress subway station. Wells Street Terminal consisted of four stub-end tracks using two island platforms and in 1907, over 100 rush-hour trains used the facility. The Franklin Street Substation is all that remains of the former terminal The terminal was the only downtown facility used by the interurban their trains did not use the Loop 'L'. In 1905, the Metropolitan's elevated trains at the terminal were joined by the interurban trains of the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway. These lines are ancestors of Chicago Transit Authority's present-day Blue and Pink Line services, though only small remnants of the original lines remain as part of today's Blue Line route. The Metropolitan's services included trains operating on its Garfield Park main line, the Douglas Park branch, and the Logan Square and Humboldt Park branch. Similar terminals were used by the other elevated railroad operators of Chicago, but the Metropolitan's Wells Street Terminal had the advantage of being directly adjacent to the Loop "L" tracks on Wells Street and even had a transfer bridge to the Quincy Street station on the Loop 'L'. Accordingly, the Metropolitan ran some of its rush hour services to Wells Street Terminal instead of circling the Loop.
However, the tracks of the Loop 'L' were operating at capacity during rush hours, and could not handle the additional train traffic needed to satisfy demand. Along with Chicago's other elevated railroad operators, the Metropolitan operated most of its trains on the Loop elevated through Chicago's central business district.
The Fifth Avenue Terminal (as it was originally known) was built by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad in 1904 to establish a terminal for rush hour elevated train traffic. The terminal was in operation from 1904 to 1953. Wells Street Terminal was a stub-end downtown terminal on the 'L' in Chicago, Illinois, located at Wells Street between Jackson Boulevard and Van Buren Street.