This operator of elevated railways was the descendant of the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust, formed in 1913 as a voluntary association of the city's four elevated lines: the Chicago & South Side Rapid Transit Railroad (opened 1892); the Lake Street Elevated Railway Co. (1893); the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (1895); and the Northwestern Elevated Railroad (1899). These early elevated lines had been led by Chicago transit king Charles T. Yerkes (who died in 1905), among others. The Chicago Rapid Transit Co., which was led by Chicago utilities titan Samuel Insull, was created in 1924 after a formal merger among the lines associated in the Chicago Elevated Railways. During the 1920s, Chicago Rapid Transit employed about 5,000 men and 600 women and had annual revenues of roughly $20 million. In 1932, during the Great Depression, the company entered bankruptcy. In 1947 it was taken over by the new Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), a public entity that became the new owner of the city's famous “L.”

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.