Nothing screams Christmas in Chicago like watching the CTA Holiday Train pull into your L station, especially if you’re least expecting it. Yesterday, I spotted the train on my way home from street-style hunting and it made me so happy! Delightfully tacky and full of Christmas cheer, the Holiday Train is covered in Christmas lights and features an open-bed car with Santa Claus in sleigh drawn by reindeer. The inside looks like the North Pole on LSD and even features cinnamon scent pumped through the ventilation system so the train smells like Christmas.

The Holiday Train is an iconic tradition in Chicago, and every year tons of CTA employees volunteer 100% of the time and money needed to decorate and run the train – just so all you grinches out there know your public tax dollars weren’t wasted. In fact, the real purpose of the train (aside from spreading joy, obviously) is to bring food baskets  donations by CTA employees to charities across the city.

Discover when the CTA Holiday Train is coming to your L platform >