MOORE’S SUMMARY: A prominent Statehouse lobbyist is the organizing force behind a $2.25 billion proposal to build an express train line that’d cut the travel time between Downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport by nearly two-thirds.
THE PROPOSAL: An express train, dubbed the ‘O’Hare Flyer,’ would run every 15 minutes from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. between the O’Hare Global Terminal, which is slated to open in 2033 and replace Terminal 2, and an underground station just west of The Old Post Office at Van Buren and Canal streets. From there, passengers would be able to connect to Union Station and the CTA’s Clinton Blue Line stop via pedway.
A one-way trip would take just 15 minutes, with trains reaching an average speed of 80 miles per hour along a 20-mile route that, in part, utilizes about 7 miles of CSX, 7.5 miles of Canadian National and 2 miles of Union Pacific railroad tracks. The eight-car, battery electric trains would carry up to 500 passengers at a time.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Dave Lundy, CEO of PR firm Aileron Communications and a prominent Statehouse lobbyist, is the conductor here (pun intended) alongside business partner Mark Walbrun, a railroad consultant who specializes in rail connections to airports.
According to Lundy, the project would be financed privately and they are seeking no federal, state or local subsidies — though it may qualify for some existing federal lending programs. He declined to disclose how much capital they’ve raised or what price they plan to charge, though he said it would be a significantly higher price point than a CTA fare but lower than the average rideshare or taxi fare between O’Hare and the Loop.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: “We are solving a problem that has bedeviled our city for decades, which is that we have a world class city and a world class downtown and a world class airport,” Lundy told me in an interview. “What we have lacked is a world class way to connect the two, and that’s where O’Hare Flyer comes in.”
WHY IT MATTERS: Chicago currently has two rail connections to O’Hare with the CTA Blue Line providing 24-hour service to the airport since 1984 and Metra’s North Central Service since 1996 operating the O’Hare Transfer station near the airport’s multi-modal facility.
However, a Blue Line trip between the airport and downtown normally takes around 45 minutes. Plus CTA trains operate on an often-unpredictable schedule. The Metra service runs on a sparse Monday-Friday commuter timetable, operating just a half dozen trains daily in each direction. And it requires a connection via the Airport Transit System to get to the terminals.
If the O’Hare Flyer takes off, Chicago would have something no U.S. city currently offers: dedicated, nonstop express rail service between downtown and its airport — offering the city a competitive advantage and reducing the time tax travelers currently pay taking either the Blue Line or a rideshare or taxi in rush hour traffic.
“The great thing is that once we are done with our agreements with our rail partners and with the city, we will have 100% end-to-end control,” Lundy said. “There’s no interaction with Amtrak or Metra or freight trains, and when you have that kind of capability, you have the ability to deliver a service that is as close to 100% reliable as possible.”
“People need to know that when they show up, the train will be there,” he continued, promising: “It will leave on time. It will arrive on time.”
FALSE STARTS: Versions of an express train have been pitched over the past three decades. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley championed construction of a superstation underneath Block 37 in The Loop to serve as a downtown terminal for an express train. But the plan collapsed in the late 2000s amid rising costs and the lack of a private partner, and the station was mothballed.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2017 sought bids from private companies for express service, eventually leading to a flirtation with Elon Musk’s Boring Company, which proposed building tunnels where 16-passenger, self-driving vehicles would whisk travelers to and from the airport in as little as 12 minutes. But the project never got off the ground.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Lundy, however, believes O’Hare Flyer is different.
“Most developers make a big splashy announcement and then try to figure it out later,” Lundy said. “We spent three years in development working through all the permutations, working through engineering, working with various authorities, working on funding sources.”
Among the barriers to rail projects are the freight companies who own the tracks. But Lundy said they’ve already executed a letter of intent with CSX and “been working closely with UP and CN, and we all believe we have a pathway to ‘yes’ and a pathway to get this done.” The project will also likely need approval from, among other regulatory agencies, the Federal Railroad Administration, as well as the Chicago City Council.
CIVIC SUPPORT: The proposal has already won over high-profile backers like the city’s private-public economic development arm, World Business Chicago. The developers have also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council. And Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was briefed on the project late last week, offered words of encouragement.
“As our generational investments in the future of O’Hare International Airport begin to bolster what is already the busiest airport in the nation and our downtown continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels of economic activity, the demand for rapid transit options from O’Hare to the Loop will only grow,” Johnson said in a statement. “Private capital is taking notice.”
“Innovative, sustainable, and affordable transportation solutions are a central tenet of our vision, and our administration looks forward to further discussions with those seeking to make transformative investments in Chicago as we come together to build safest, most affordable big city in America,” he said.
TIMELINE: Lundy said O’Hare Flyer is “a five-year project, but preliminary work on things like bridges could begin as soon as next year.
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