O’Hare Flyer Train Would Bring Visitors From Airport To Downtown In Just 15 Minutes

O’HARE— The newly-announced proposal for an O’Hare Flyer express train would bring travelers from O’Hare Airport to the Loop in just 15 minutes.

The train would travel on a dedicated track, going from O’Hare’s Terminal 2 to Downtown every 15 minutes. Plans for the train were unveiled in a Tuesday news release.

The project, which is being privately funded, aims to launch within the next five years —pending city approval and securing a reported $2.25 billion in funding.

“This is a first-of-its-kind express train in the U.S. and will give Chicago a safe, reliable, world-class rider experience on a fast, whisper-quiet battery-electric train,” O’Hare Flyer co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Lundy said in the news release.

The train will run on freight rail right-of-way owned by three railroad companies: CSX, Canadian National and Union Pacific. The O’Hare Flyer team has reached a Letter of Intent with CSX and is currently “moving forward” with the other rail lines, according to the news release.

The train will have concierge-level service with luggage racks in every car and will recharge at its Downtown station near the Old Post Office and at Terminal 2.

The project has been in the works for the past three years. The team behind the project is made up of city planning and transportation professionals including Kristi Lafleur, who was most recently the CEO of the Chicago Skyway. Mark Walbrun, a Chicago area rail expert who helped redesign Union Station, is another co-founder.

Over the next few months, O’Hare Flyer representatives will begin meeting with public officials and community groups to discuss the project.

“For decades, Chicago’s economic and political leaders have dreamt about a fast connection between O’Hare and Downtown because it is economic development rocket fuel,” Lafleur said in the news release. “This quiet, pollution-free electric train will attract visitors and more businesses to downtown and the region. It is also important and noteworthy that it will be led by and for Chicagoans.” 

In the news release, Lundy said he values “the critical role that organized labor plays in Chicago’s economic life” and that his team plans on working with the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council to execute a project labor agreement.

Ticket prices have not been determined, but those behind the project told the Sun-Times it would “be more than the Blue Line but less than an Uber, Lyft or other ride-hailing service, which typically costs over $50.”

Several attempts at providing high-speed service between O’Hare and Downtown, including one involving Elon Musk, have been proposed and shelved over the years.

Sign up here to be notified of public meetings or other news about the planned rail line.