2600-series (CTA)

The 2600-series is a fleet of 600 Chicago "L" rapid transit cars built between 1981 and 1987 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia for the Chicago Transit Authority, numbered 2601 to 3200. It was the fourth of the five series of the High Performance Family and is similar in design to the earlier 2400-series. The first order was for 300 cars, delivered in time for the extension of the Kennedy Line to O'Hare Airport in 1981, and it was later doubled. Car 3200, completed on April 3, 1987, was the last railcar Budd or its successor Transit America ever built, after which Budd closed its railcar business. Alstom rebuilt the cars at Hornell, New York, between 1999 and 2002, and they have run on all eight lines of the system, with 406 still in service.