Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday set a goal of moving forward with high speed rail service to O’Hare International Airport within the next three years.
Since winning a second term in 2015, Emanuel has mentioned express rail service as a project he’d like to tackle to shorten travel times to one of the nation’s busiest airports while appealing to corporate business interests.
Emanuel discussed the possible new rail line as part of a speech Thursday afternoon on infrastructure projects.
"To connect people to O’Hare even faster, we’re going to embark on a project that has been imagined and discussed for decades, but is essential for our city’s future," Emanuel said.
The mayor told an invitation-only crowd at a West Side union hall that he had retained Bob Rivkin to help spearhead the project and "begin working with potential partners who are anxious to work with us to create an express train from O’Hare to the Loop." Rivkin, a former general counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation will "provide legal expertise in identifying a clear path forward and working with potential partners," according to Emanuel’s office.
Dubbed "express rail" by the mayor’s office, the project is designed to connect the Loop with the airport in a model of similar high-speed lines in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Toronto. City Hall already has hired an engineering firm to assess possible routes for the rail line, potential station locations and the "viability and cost of the overall project," the mayor’s office said.
City plans new CTA Green Line station at Damen, near United Center Mary Wisniewski
The city of Chicago on Thursday announced plans for a new CTA Green Line “L” station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street near the United Center to serve a growing residential and business area.
The new station will fill a 1.5-mile gap between existing Green Line stations at California and Ashland avenues….
The city of Chicago on Thursday announced plans for a new CTA Green Line “L” station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street near the United Center to serve a growing residential and business area.
The new station will fill a 1.5-mile gap between existing Green Line stations at California and Ashland avenues….
(Mary Wisniewski)
"If London and Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Toronto can offer this service, the City of Chicago can and must also offer it. We have been hearing from potential investors and companies around the world about their interest in this project," said Emanuel, noting that city engineers had "made progress in identifying the routes to move it forward."
Emanuel did not give a timeline or costs for the project in his speech, but a news release issued by his office suggested the city would start the project within the next three years.
Emanuel’s predecessor Richard M. Daley frequently mentioned the possibility of a high speed rail line to O’Hare. In fact, in his final days months in office, Daley invited technology experts from around the world to submit concepts for a line that would whisk travelers from the Loop to O’Hare in 10 to 20 minutes.
Daley’s administration wanted high-speed trains to operate 20 hours a day and wanted the project built without public money. Daley frequently mentioned his 2010 ride aboard a magnetic levitation train in Shanghai as a possible model for Chicago.
Emanuel’s office has not said whether the city intends to spend tax dollars on the high speed rail project. The mayor resurfaced the project in a May 2015 interview with the Chicago Tribune, shortly after he won a second term.
Emanuel tries to resurrect O’Hare express train plan John Byrne
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to resurrect Chicago’s long-elusive plan for an express train from downtown to O’Hare International Airport by hiring an engineering firm to look at possible routes and costs.
It’s a preliminary step, and the Emanuel administration isn’t sure who would pay for the massive…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to resurrect Chicago’s long-elusive plan for an express train from downtown to O’Hare International Airport by hiring an engineering firm to look at possible routes and costs.
It’s a preliminary step, and the Emanuel administration isn’t sure who would pay for the massive…
(John Byrne)
"This is going to be one of the top five things I do for the future," Emanuel said then of continuing to modernize O’Hare. "I want to build direct rail service."
On Thursday, the mayor again cast the concept as an important legacy project for Chicago.
"Creating faster connections between the economic engine of our central business district and the economic engine of O’Hare will pay dividends for generations to come," Emanuel said.
bruthhart@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BillRuthhart
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