Evanston families hoping to catch the CTA Holiday Train this year have three options — and only one if they want their kids to get photos with Santa.
Now in its 32nd year, the CTA Holiday Train uses a special train set with festively decorated train cars and a dedicated flat car for Santa and his sleigh. It usually kicks off after Thanksgiving and ends its run right before Christmas Eve, but the only thing that’s consistent about its schedule is that the Yellow Line is the last line it runs on.
This year, the train will run on the Purple Line Express on Wednesday and Friday and on Red and Purple Lines on Saturday.
In keeping with its practice since the pandemic, CTA did not provide a station-by-station schedule. The best way to track its arrival is to watch the CTA train tracker and real-time arrival displays at the L stations for trains with candy canes next to them. The CTA Holiday Train tracker bot on X can be a useful tool, but it’s not always accurate.
On Wednesday, the CTA Holiday Train will leave Howard L station at around 3:15 p.m. and head north to the last stop at Linden Avenue in Wilmette. It will leave Linden at around 3:50 p.m. and head south, making all of the regular Purple Line Express stops. The Holiday Train is expected to arrive at the Clark/Lake station around 4:45 p.m., take a trip around the elevated Loop and return to Linden. At around 6 p.m., it will leave Linden to travel to Howard, where it will end its run for the day.
On Friday, the Holiday Train will run on the Purple Line Express again, but at slightly different times. The train will leave Howard Street station around 3:45 p.m., head to Linden Avenue and leave there around 4:20 p.m. It will once again make a full loop on the L tracks, returning to the Merchandise Mart station downtown at around 5:21 p.m. and traveling back to Linden. It will leave Linden at around 6:20 p.m. and, once again, end its run at Howard.
On Saturday, the Holiday Train will operate as a Red/Purple Line train. It will leave Howard at around 12:36 p.m. and make all the regular Red Line stops. At around 3:21 p.m., it will leave 95th/Dan Ryan station at the south end of the Red Line and head to Linden, making all the regular Red Line and Purple Line stops. At around 6:51 p.m. the Holiday Train will leave Linden and travel as far south as Howard.
On Saturday kids can take pictures with Santa at 95th/Dan Ryan and Linden stations. CTA warns that “photos are on a first-come, first-served basis, limit one photo set-up per family/group,” and that, while “every effort is made to accommodate those lined up for photos,” there is “a firm-cut-off time” to make sure the train leaves on time.
A note about Christmas schedules
As always, CTA will operate on the regular weekday schedule on Christmas Eve and on Sunday/Holiday schedule on Christmas Day. Pace mostly follows the same pattern, except with certain specialized routes.
In Evanston, that means that CTA bus routes 201/Central-Ridge and 206/Evanston Circulator, and Pace route 213 will run on Dec. 24, but not on Dec. 25. Purple Line Express will operate during rush hour on Christmas Eve, but not Christmas Day.
The Union Pacific North Metra Line that serves Evanston will follow a modified Saturday schedule on Christmas Eve and Sunday schedule on Christmas Day. The key difference between the regular Saturday schedule and this year’s Christmas Eve schedule is that outbound Train 817, which leaves downtown Chicago at 3:53 p.m. and normally skips Central Street station, will make all Evanston stops. The same will be true for late afternoon/early evening inbound train 822, which normally skips Central Street station as well.
CTA Holiday Train to visit Evanston this week is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.