CTA Holiday Train

The CTA Holiday Train^[a] is a special service of the Chicago "L" rail system, running annually during the Christmas and holiday season in Chicago, Illinois.^[1] The train features extensive Christmas decorations, and is a popular holiday tradition in Chicago.^[2]

The Holiday Train runs in regular service across the 'L' system between late November and Christmas, visiting all 146 stations as it progresses through the system's eight lines.^[3][4] Each day the train is in service, it runs on either a single line or a combination of two lines, stopping at all stations.^[4][5] It operates as run #1225, in reference to the date of Christmas Day.^[6][7] CTA employees, dressed as Christmas elves, greet passengers onboard.^[3][8]

As of 2025, the Holiday Train runs five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, from Black Friday until a few days before Christmas (occasionally also running on a Monday).^[9][10] It runs for three to four hours in the afternoon on weekdays, and for longer spans on Saturday afternoons.^[4] For the final day of each year's service, the Holiday Train is divided into three two-car trains, which run individually on the Yellow Line.^[3][4][11]

The Holiday Train service is run with a designated seven-car train, consisting of six modified 2600-series passenger cars (units 2893-2898)^[12] interspersed with a single open-air flatcar.^[13][14] The passenger cars are extensively decorated with Christmas lights and stylized vinyl wraps on the interior and exterior,^[3][15] and red-and-green seats, bows, garlands, and other artwork on the interior.^[16] The flatcar contains a holiday-themed display featuring a CTA employee dressed as Santa Claus,^[16] greeting riders from atop a sleigh pulled by reindeer.^[10][15] Its headsigns read "Santa's Express,"^[17] and large signs adorn the exterior, displaying holiday messages such as "peace on earth" and "happy holidays from CTA Rail Lines." Christmas music is played from onboard speakers.^[16][18]

The train is decorated each fall at the Skokie Shops, and is stored there when not in use.^[3][15][16] Decorations are stored and reused from year to year.^[3] As of 2024, the train's decorations included more than 100,000 Christmas lights.^[8]

From 2016 to 2019, the Holiday Train was accompanied by a second holiday-themed train, known as the Elves' Workshop Train.^[19] The Elves' Workshop Train ran exclusively on Saturdays, directly behind the main Holiday Train, to accommodate crowds.^[20][21] Like the Holiday Train, the Elves' Workshop Train also consisted of six decorated 2600-series railcars.^[12]

In addition to the Holiday Train, the CTA also operates a holiday-themed bus.^[22] The CTA Holiday Bus^[b] is a decorated New Flyer D60LFR articulated bus (unit 4374)^[23][24] decorated with lights and a vinyl wrap in a manner similar to the Holiday Train, and similarly running in regularly scheduled service on CTA bus routes. The Holiday Bus debuts each year during the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Parade,^[25][26] and services 15 to 20 bus routes each year.^[27][5]

The Holiday Train program has historically been used to provide food to local charities;^[8] in 2025, the CTA donated 400 food baskets.^[10]

The Holiday Train began in 1992 as a decorated out-of-service train run on the Blue Line, used by CTA staff to deliver donations of food to local charities.^[2][28] It became a passenger service in 1996.^[3][28]

In 2003, the Holiday Train derailed near Sedgwick station while running on the Brown Line. Passengers were evacuated, though no one was injured.^[29]

The Holiday Train was nearly discontinued in December 2004 amid systemwide budget cuts, with then-CTA president Frank Kruesi stating that it was difficult to justify funding the program amid the threat of mass employee layoffs the following January.^[28][30][31] Kruesi was criticized for the decision, with local media comparing him unfavorably to the Grinch.^[28][30] The service was reinstated at the request of Carole Brown, then-chair of CTA's board of directors.^[28][32][33]

In 2014, the CTA introduced the Holiday Bus to complement the Holiday Train.^[22][34]

Since the 2010s, the Holiday Train program has been funded primarily by corporate sponsors.^[3][13][16] The train and bus were sponsored by Sprint in 2015,^[3][35] and by Jewel-Osco in 2017.^[3][36] Allstate has been the title sponsor of the services since 2018.^[3]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Holiday Train and Bus ran without passengers in 2020.^[37][38]

In 2009, a song titled "CTA X-mas Train", describing the Holiday Train, won a contest in the Chicago Tribune seeking a new "classic" Chicago holiday song.^[39]

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