After months of crippling news and truly depressing developments, Christmas couldn’t be more welcome.
It’s been a rough 2024. The MCU is spiraling the drain, Donald Trump is set to be president again, and the brainless banshees screeching the MAGA agenda to the heavens will remain at the forefront of conversations for years to come. It’s a bad time to be a person with a thinking brain, but at least the holidays are right around the corner — and Chicago, aided by TikTok, is making sure we don’t forget it.
The Windy City is dishing out the Christmas cheer with a bit extra pep this year, and its citizens couldn’t be more grateful. It’s officially time for the Christmas train in Chi-Town, pepping up residents through the simple cheer of a decked-out train dripping with holiday spirit.
The seasonal tradition has been around for decades now, but many Chicago residents forget all about it until they’re graced with the sight of a brilliantly lit train approaching. The Christmas train or, as Chicago calls it, the Allstate CTA Holiday Fleet — is now on its 33rd year in operation, spreading cheer one passenger at a time.
In stellar news for anyone who rarely takes the train, there’s also a holiday bus traversing those chilly streets, likewise drenched in Christmas cheer. It makes for a well-rounded and thoroughly breathtaking experience, and one that Chicago citizens are gushing over on social media.
Numerous perspectives of the decked-out Christmas train grace TikTok with their multicolored presence, spreading the cheer to an even larger audience. The delight on Windy City resident faces is clear, every time the train comes into view, and even aerial shots of the brilliantly decorated transport are sure to inject a bit of Christmas cheer into even the most dour of viewers.
I mean, just look at her face. That train’s arrival changed her whole day. She’s not alone, either — dozens of videos are trickling onto TikTok, spreading word of Chicago’s seasonal train and hyping up Christmas lovers everywhere.
The train is just the injection of joy this year needed, but as it turns out it has a purpose beyond spreading Christmas cheer. The three-decade old tradition also delivers food baskets and donations to charities across the city, zeroing in on the true purpose of the holiday with an utterly charming modern twist.
Like Santa Claus himself, the Christmas train (and bus) traverse the city spreading joy and supplies to everyone in need. This year, it estimates the Holiday Fleet will deliver approximately 400 baskets of food, carefully curated for the season, to various city-wide community organizations. According to the Chicago Transit site, “each food basket contains all the ingredients for a complete meal including a canned ham, potatoes, mixed vegetables, muffin mix, macaroni and cheese, fruit cocktail, green beans, corn and dessert.”
To top it off, the train also offers photos with Santa — who’s seated, cheerfully waving, with his reindeer in an open-air section of the train — on designated dates, ensuring that children across the city get the full Christmas experience, no matter how hard 2024 was on their families. It’s a truly wonderful tradition, and it may just win Chicago the award for most festive city on the map.