The president of the Chicago Transit Authority says the North Side of the Red Line is next.

Earlier this week, Forrest Claypool announced the South Side portion of the Red Line will be completely shut down for five months next year for reconstruction. But Claypool says a similar project is in the works for North Side Red Line riders as well.

“I got news for people,” Claypool said Tuesday on WBEZ’s Afternoon Shift. “The north Red Line has to be rebuilt as well. And we’re not that many years away from that happening.”

Claypool said he would not want to completely shut down the North Side Red Line.

He said the Red Line is longer on the North Side than on the South Side and construction would likely be staggered, rather than have the entire stretch closed at one time.

“There clearly will be disruptions at that time, but at the end of the day years from now, assuming we get the proper federal support for that project, you will have literally a brand new railroad from the far northern suburbs to the very southern portions of the City of Chicago,” he said.