[1] The Orange Line begins in an open cut at a station on the east side of Midway International Airport.

Near the intersection of 49th Street and Lawndale Avenue, the line turns east along a CSX Transportation right-of-way to a point east of Western Boulevard, then curves north and northwest on embankment structure along CSX right-of-way to Western Boulevard and Pershing Road.

The line continues on surface level to Ashland Avenue where it crosses a bridge over Bubbly Creek, a fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River.

At this point, the line enters the joint Illinois Central and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way continuing on embankment to Canal Street.

A downtown superstation was proposed to provide express service from the Loop to O'Hare and Midway airports, but the project was canceled during the excavation process due to significant cost overruns.

In 1979, the City began the Southwest Transit Project, which proposed extending the CTA 'L' system to the Southwest Side of Chicago over existing railroad rights-of-way and newer elevated connections along the very busy Archer-49th-Cicero Corridor from the Loop to its originally planned terminus at the Ford City Mall.

"[4] The Ford City Mall is about two miles (3 km) south of Midway Airport, and it was originally planned to be the line's terminal.

Community meetings were held in neighborhoods surrounding Midway and Ford City to judge the level of public support for the extension.

[6] In April 2009, the Cicero Avenue/Belt Railway corridor was chosen as the most viable option and advanced in the Alternatives Analysis process.

According to a CTA report, The LPA would operate in a trench along the BRC right-of-way between the existing Midway station and approximately 6400 South, where it would begin to transition to an elevated structure above Marquette Road, where it would curve to the southwest over the BRC Clearing Yard and then continue south on elevated structure in the median of Cicero Avenue.

[8]The CTA planned to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and complete preliminary engineering.