A phone that has received train arrivals by text

How to: Use Train Tracker by text

CTA Train Tracker SM by Text allows you to get estimated arrivals from CTA Train Tracker on a wide range of phones and mobile devices.

We'll be improving the service based on your feedback and also evaluating places where we can post this information at stations, at a later date.

Using this service

It's easy as 1-2-3:
 

  1. Find your stopcode in the list below or on the bottom of the printed/pdf timetable for your station.
     
  2. Text ctatrain [stopcode] to 41411 
    Be sure to text the word "ctatrain", a space, and then the actual stop code, such as "ctatrain hwrd" (without the quotes or brackets).
     
  3. Receive arrival times.

Note: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first. If you need help, e-mail us at [email protected].

 

Example

Here's how the text message you send might look if you wanted to see the next trains at Chicago on the Red Line. The stop code for that station is CHIR, so you'd text "ctatrain chir" to 41411.

Try it!

Send ctatrain chir to 41411, like this:

Image showing the message "ctatrain chir" being sent to 41411 on a flip phone.

After your message is received, you'll get a message like this:

Example of response showing Red Line arrivals. 


The first line in the example response above, "Rd>Hwrd Due" indicates that a Red Line train to Howard is due, and one to 95th/Dan Ryan is in two minutes. (Responses are abbreviated so you can get to the information you need in as few messages as possible.)

Note that abbreviated destinations in results do not necessarily coincide with stop codes. For what to send to us for arrivals, find your station's code here.

Response Abbreviations

Here's a quick list of abbreviations you'll see in response texts from this service:

Routes Abbreviated Destinations in Responses
Rd = Red Line Hwrd = to Howard
Bl = Blue Line 95th = to 95th/Dan Ryan
Br = Brown Line Kmbl = to Kimball
Gr = Green Line Loop = to Loop
Or = Orange Line 54/Cer = to 54th/Cermak
Pk = Pink Line Harlm = to Harlem/Lake
Pu = Purple Line CottG = to Cottage Grove
Yl = Yellow Line Ash63 = to Ashland/63rd
  O'Hare = to O'Hare
  FrstPk = to Forest Park
  JeffPk = to Jefferson Park
  UIC = to UIC-Halsted
  Midw = to Midway

 

Finding your stop code

You can find stop codes below or find texting instructions for your station in the following locations:

  • On your station's page on this website. (Go to Schedules, then choose your route, then click/tap your station's name in the route diagram for full details.)
  • On Train Tracker results when viewed on this website. (After pulling up arrival times in Train Tracker, you can expand the "Station information" section below a set of results in Train Tracker and detailed instructions will appear.) 
  • On timetables posted in stations. (Texting instructions appear at the bottom right of station timetable posters in every 'L' station.)

Complete list of stop codes

The following codes have been assigned to each of CTA's stations to make it easier to remember what to text.

Station name Served by these lines Stop Code
18th Pink 18TH
35th-Bronzeville-IIT Green 35GR
35th/Archer Orange 35OR
43rd Green 43RD
47th Green 47GR
47th Red 47RE
51st Green 51ST
54th/Cermak Pink 54TH
63rd Red 63RD
69th Red 69TH
79th Red 79TH
87th Red 87TH
95th Red 95TH
Adams/Wabash Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple ADAM
Addison Blue ADBL
Addison Brown ADBR
Addison Red ADRE
Argyle Red ARGY
Armitage Brown, Purple ARMI
Ashland/63rd Green 63AS
Ashland Green, Pink ASHL
Ashland Orange ASHO
Austin Blue AUSB
Austin Green AUSG
Belmont Red, Brown, Purple BELM
Belmont Blue BELB
Berwyn Red BERW
Bryn Mawr Red BRYN
California Pink CALP
California Green CALG
California Blue CALB
Central Park Pink CNPK
Central Green CENG
Central Purple CENP
Cermak-Chinatown Red CHNA
Cermak-McCormick Place Green CRMC
Chicago Blue CHIB
Chicago Brown, Purple CHIF
Chicago Red CHIR
Cicero Pink CICP
Cicero Blue CICF
Cicero Green CICG
Clark/Division Red CDIV
Clark/Lake Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple CLKL
Clinton Blue CLIB
Clinton Green, Pink CLIL
Conservatory-Central Park Drive Green CONS
Cumberland Blue CUMB
Damen Brown DMNB
Damen Pink DMPK
Damen Blue DAMO
Davis Purple DAVI
Dempster Purple DEMP
Dempster-Skokie Yellow DESK
Diversey Brown, Purple DIVR
Division Blue DIVI
Cottage Grove Green COTT
Forest Park Blue FORP
Foster Purple FOST
Francisco Brown FRAN
Fullerton Red, Brown, Purple FULL
Garfield Green GARG
Garfield Red GARR
Grand Blue GRBL
Grand Red GRRE
Granville Red GRAN
Halsted Green HALG
Halsted Orange HALO
Harlem (Forest Park Branch) Blue HARF
Harlem Green HARL
Harlem (O'Hare Branch Blue HARO
Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple HWLC
Harrison Red HARR
Howard Red, Purple, Yellow HWRD
Illinois Medical District Blue ILMD
Indiana Green INDI
Irving Park Blue IRVO
Irving Park Brown IRVB
Jackson Blue JACB
Jackson Red JACR
Jarvis Red JARV
Jefferson Park Blue JPRK
Kedzie Brown KEDB
Kedzie Pink KEDP
Kedzie Green KEDG
Kedzie-Homan Blue KEDH
Kedzie Orange KEDO
Kimball Brown KIMB
King Drive Green KING
Kostner Pink KOST
Lake Red LAKE
Laramie Green LARA
LaSalle Blue LASA
LaSalle/Van Buren Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple LASV
Lawrence Red LAWR
Linden Purple LIND
Logan Square Blue LOGS
Loyola Red LOYO
Main Purple MAIN
Merchandise Mart Brown, Purple MART
Midway Orange MDW
Monroe Blue MONB
Monroe Red MONR
Montrose Blue MONK
Montrose Brown MONT
Morgan Green, Pink MORG
Morse Red MORS
North/Clybourn Red NCLY
Noyes Purple NOYE
Oak Park Blue OAKB
Oak Park Green OAKG
Oakton-Skokie Yellow OAKS
O'Hare Blue ORD
Paulina Brown PAUL
Polk Pink POLK
Pulaski Pink PULP
Pulaski Blue PULF
Pulaski Green PULG
Pulaski Orange PULO
Quincy/Wells Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple QUIN
Racine Blue RACN
Ridgeland Green RIDG
Rockwell Brown ROCK
Roosevelt Red, Orange, Green ROOS
Rosemont Blue ROSE
Sedgwick Brown, Purple SEDG
Sheridan Red SHER
South Boulevard Purple SOBL
Southport Brown SPRT
Sox-35th Red SOX
State/Lake Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple STLK
Thorndale Red THOR
UIC-Halsted Blue UICH
Washington/Wabash Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple WAWA
Washington/Wells Brown, Orange, Pink, Purple WASW
Washington Blue WASB
Wellington Brown, Purple WELL
Western Brown WESB
Western Pink WESP
Western (Forest Park Branch) Blue WESF
Western (O'Hare Branch) Blue WESM
Western Orange WESO
Wilson RedPurple WILS

 

Other ways to find stop codes

If you need to look up a stop while on-the-go and don't have an Internet connection to check our website, you can also text "ctatrain [route]" to 41411 to get a list of stop codes via text message.

 

Additional Commands

Also, you can also reply to this message with "R" to get the latest, most updated result for the same stop.

If your stop has multiple routes serving it, your results may not fit in one text message. In that case, you can also reply with "N" to see the next result for the stop you requested.

If there are alerts, you'll see "A)lerts" at the end of texts you receive, and you can reply with "A" to retrieve them.

Note: If you have subscribed to receive text messages for service alerts or arrivals at scheduled times from the CTA Bus Tracker website, you can always reply with (or send a new text with) "STOP" to unsubscribe. (There are no subscriptions related to the CTA Train Tracker by Text service.) And remember: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first.)

 

Tip: Narrow your results

To get just the routes you're interested (and potentially reduce the number of texts you need to send or receive to get the information you want), you can also specify a route color in your request—just add a space and the color after the stop code in your request.

For example, to get only Orange Line results at Clark/Lake (stop code: CLKL), send this request:

ctatrain clkl orange

System status snapshot
‘L’ route status
Red Line
Normal Service
Blue Line
Normal Service
Green Line
Normal Service
Orange Line
Normal Service
Pink Line
Normal Service
Purple Line
Normal Service
Yellow Line
Normal Service
Bus routes w/alerts
Elevator alerts