Overview
- O'Hare Flyer has publicly unveiled a plan for a nonstop, 15-minute service between a station near the Old Post Office and Terminal 2 that it says would run every 15 minutes and offer faster, lower-cost trips than ride-hails.
- The group says it has a tentative agreement with CSX and a 'pathway to yes' with Canadian National and Union Pacific, and it has briefed Mayor Brandon Johnson, who welcomed further talks.
- The route would reuse freed freight-rail land and long-unused Canal Street approaches, require a 90-foot flyover and a long platform at Terminal 2, and aim to avoid major new tunneling.
- Operations would use battery-electric trainsets similar to recent Metra orders, run mostly on single track with about six miles of passing sections, and rely on four trains to provide day service from early morning to late evening.
- O'Hare Flyer estimates a $2.25 billion budget and says the project will be mainly commercially funded, but it has not disclosed fundraising details and experts warn debt, ridership shortfalls, single-track limits, and cost overruns could threaten the plan needed to win railroad, city and community approvals before work could start.