Harlem station (CTA Blue Line Congress branch)

Harlem is a station on the 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch in Forest Park, Illinois. The station was built with an auxiliary entrance at Circle Avenue that was eventually converted to an exit only facility. The Circle Avenue entrance reopened as an auxiliary entrance/exit on September 26, 2009, at 4 PM.[4] To the south of the station is the Ferrara Candy Company (formerly Ferrara Pan [the "Pan" part of the name was dropped in 2012.]) A Roos chest-making factory was located west of the station and Circle Avenue until it was torn down in 2013 to make way for a new recreation park that opened there in 2018. The Roos company closed for good in 1951.

Harlem   7200W 700S
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Looking down the platform. The tracks to the left belong to the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad with a pair of hopper cars at the Ferrara Candy Company also to the left. The building behind the Circle Ave. bridge in the background was the old Roos (rhymes with 'moose') chest making factory that was torn down in 2013 after the company ran from 1918 to 1951.
Location	701 South Harlem Avenue Forest Park, Illinois 60130
Coordinates	41.87349°N 87.806961°W / 41.87349; -87.806961
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	Forest Park Branch
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Expressway median
History
Opened	March 20, 1960[1][2]
Passengers
2019	344,096[3]  8.4% (CTA)
Rank	119 out of 143
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Forest Park Terminus Blue Line Oak Park toward O'Hare
Former services Preceding station Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad Following station Forest Home toward Thatcher's Park Chicago & Northern Pacific – Main Line Kirwin toward Chicago
Track layout Blue Line east to O'Hare I-290 Harlem Ave. B&OCT Circle Ave. Blue Line west to Forest Park

Harlem opened in 1960 and is composed of a main entrance on Harlem Avenue and an auxiliary entrance on Circle Avenue, providing access to the station's platform. Harlem is open 24/7 365 days a year as part of the overnight service of the Blue Line and an annual total of 346,005 passengers have boarded the station in 2012.[5] The station is not to be confused with the Blue Line's other station on Harlem Avenue that is located on the Kennedy Expressway portion of the line.