Merchandise Mart   320N 200W
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	350 North Wells Street Chicago, Illinois 60654
Coordinates	41°53′19″N 87°38′02″W / 41.888675°N 87.633966°W / 41.888675; -87.633966
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	North Side Main Line
Platforms	2 Side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Platform levels	1
Parking	No
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	December 5, 1930 (1930-12-05)
Rebuilt	1987–1988 (1988)
Passengers
2020	580,038[1]  74.1%
Rank	34 out of 143
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Chicago toward Kimball Brown Line Clark/Lake One-way operation Washington/​Wells Loop-bound terminus Chicago toward Linden Purple Line Express Clark/Lake Loop-bound terminus Washington/​Wells One-way operation
Former services Preceding station Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad Following station Grand Avenue toward Milwaukee North Shore Line Clark/Lake One-way operation Randolph/Wells toward Roosevelt Road Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Grand Closed 1970 toward Howard North Side main line North Water Terminal Terminus Clark/Lake One-way operation Randolph/Wells Closed 1995 toward Loop (Randolph/Wells)
Track layout Brown to Kimball Purple Express to Linden Kinzie St. Merchandise Mart Chicago River Brown and Purple Express to the Loop
Location

Merchandise Mart^[2][3] is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the Near North Side neighborhood at 350 North Wells Street in Chicago, Illinois (directional coordinates 320 north, 200 west). The station is elevated above street level, on a steel structure. The turnstiles and customer assistant booth of the station are located on the second level of the Merchandise Mart itself. This is the main entrance to the station.

There are two fare-card only, unattended entrances atop two long stairways accessed directly from Wells Street, just north of Kinzie Avenue. The station is constructed mostly of steel, with wooden platforms covered by a canopy most of their length. There are two side platforms both long enough to support eight-car trains, the longest possible on the CTA system. The southbound platform is just slightly below the level of the station entrance while an enclosed bridge over the tracks connects to the northbound platform on the opposite side.

The station is fully accessible, resulting in a complicated elevator setup. The elevator on the southbound platform can lower from the entrance to the platform, as well as go up to the top of the bridge. Another elevator on the opposite side of the bridge lowers to the northbound platform.

History

Service

Merchandise Mart serves the Brown Line, but Purple Line Express trains also stop at the station during weekday rush hours. Merchandise Mart was the only Brown Line station not scheduled to receive upgrades or renovation during the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project. Because of its recent construction from 1987 to 1988, the station is accessible to passengers with disabilities and is already of sufficient length to accommodate eight-car trains, thus no major renovation was needed during the project.

Bus connections

CTA

• 37 Sedgwick (Weekdays only)
• 125 Water Tower Express (Weekday rush hours only)

References

External links

Media related to Merchandise Mart (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Merchandise Mart at Chicago-'L'.org
• Train schedule (PDF) at CTA official site
• Kinzie Street exit-only stairs from Google Maps Street View