Stub terminals of the Chicago "L"

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In the first half of the 20th century, the four companies of the Chicago "L" and their successors each ran a terminal in Chicago's downtown in addition to the looping elevated trackage known as "the Loop" shared between all four of them. These terminals were the Congress Terminal of the South Side Elevated Railroad, the Market Street Terminal of the Lake Street Elevated, the eventual Wells Street Terminal of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, and the North Water Terminal of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. The Lake Street uniquely had an intermediate station on Randolph Street between its stub terminal and main line.

With the exception of the North Water Terminal, the terminals had predated the Loop's construction and opening.^[a] The railroads had opened between 1892 and 1895, with the exception of the Northwestern. The Loop, having been planned and agreed upon by the companies in 1894, was constructed and opened in phases between 1895 and 1897. The old terminals were then closed.

However, the Loop frequently overflowed, so the terminals were reopened or rebuilt in the early 20th century to accommodate excess traffic during rush hours. The Northwestern, despite not opening until well after Loop service had begun, built a terminal over North Water Street. In addition to their role in overflow traffic, they served various interurbans that ran on "L" trackage – the Congress Terminal served the North Shore Line, while the Wells Street Terminal was the eastern end of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E).

The Loop's chronic congestion was resolved by the construction of the State Street subway in 1943 and the Dearborn Street subway in 1951, while the interurbans declined in the same era. The Market Street terminal and Randolph Street station were both closed in 1948 and demolished shortly thereafter. "L" service to the Congress Terminal was discontinued in 1949, and that to the Wells Street Terminal in 1951. However, the CA&E continued using the Wells Street Terminal until 1953, and the North Shore Line continued to use the Congress Terminal for luggage until 1963. All of the stub terminals have been demolished and few traces remain of them.
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