Loyola (CTA)

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Loyola

Coordinates:	6550 N, 1200 W
Lines:	Red
Platforms:	1 island platform
Opened:	1908 (rebuilt 1921, 1982)
2005 passenger entrances:	1,599,079 2%

Loyola is an station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, served by the Red Line. It is located at 1200 West Loyola Avenue (directional coordinates 6550 north, 1200 west) in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station sees heavy use by students from its nearby namesake, the Lakeshore Campus of Loyola University Chicago. The Red Line right-of-way runs directly through the southwest corner of the campus. The Rogers Park neighborhood, located in the far northeast corner of Chicago, has four El stations (N to S): Howard, Jarvis, Morse, and Loyola.

This is the third station at this location; the original opened in 1908 and was rebuilt in 1921, the current station was built in 1982. The entrance to the original station was on Loyola Avenue, but the new station's entrance is technically on the west side of Sheridan Road, ideally situated across the street from a heavily-used Loyola campus entrance. On Loyola Avenue, there is still a passageway leading to the turnstiles as well as an exit-only rotorgate. The station is accessible to those with disabilities.

The current platform is elevated on a fill embankment and an island between the southbound Red Line tracks to the west and the northbound Red Line tracks to the east. There is no platform access to the outside express tracks used by Purple Line Express trains. The platform is exceptionally long and narrow, over 1,000 feet (approximately 300 meters) in length. It is also somewhat curved to the northwest. The platform is split in half by an elevator shaft. Southbound trains stop at the north portion of the platform while northbound trains stop at the south portion, although these locations were reversed prior to August 1998. Both halves of the platform can handle eight-car trains, the typical car length in use on the Red Line. A viaduct carries a portion of the southern platform over Sheridan Road.

The station house itself is also fairly large and boasts a great deal of concession space. As of 2006, the Loyola station is home to a McDonald's restaurant, a Dunkin' Donuts, and a privately-owned newsstand. The latter two businesses are open twenty-four hours a day.