Beginning April 28, 2008, the CTA began a six-month experimental ceasing of Blue Line operations on the Douglas. Despite maintaining that the service cut was an experiment, the CTA immediately covered Blue Line stations' directional signage for trains to with paint rather than temporary covering, suggesting it was a permanent discontinuation instead of a temporary one. All Douglas Branch operations are now served by the Pink Line. On December 4, 2008, CTA announced its decision to permanently discontinue Blue Line service on the Douglas branch and to make the Pink Line permanent.