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Which Way for O'Hare Express?


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#11 CNJRoss

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Posted 31 March 2017 - 12:40 PM

Streetsblog Chicago, 3/30:
 

Why Hong Kong Got an Express Train to the Airport and Why Chicago Shouldn’t Get One

 

 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has noted that Hong Kong is a world class city with an express train to its airport, and O’Hare should have one like it to attract more business travelers to Chicago. There’s a good backstory about how Hong Kong got an airport express, but it doesn’t support Emanuel’s push for one.

 

I spent last weekend in Hong Kong and rode the express train roundtrip, and I experienced first hand what a premium airport train looks and feels like. I also learned how it was funded. The Hong Kong Airport Express is unique in that it’s the only train to the airport and it was privately funded by real estate revenues. Emanuel has repeatedly said the goal of the O’Hare Express project “is to ensure that no taxpayer money is used.”

 

SNIP

 

Even though the Hong Kong Airport Express the only train service to its airport, less than a quarter of Hong Kong airport passengers use it. However, the airport express won’t necessarily have any funding problems due to low ridership because MTR subsidizes all its lines with its real estate operation.  .  .  .

 

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#12 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 07:42 PM

dnainfo Chicago, IL 6/26/17:

 

High Speed Train Between O'Hare, Downtown Has Elon Musk's Interest: Rahm

 

extralarge.jpg

A rendering of one idea for an O'Hare Express Rail depot at the airport.

City of Chicago

 

 

O'HARE — Mayor Rahm Emanuel's long-gestating plan for a high-speed rail line between Downtown and O'Hare Airport got a jolt of electricity Monday with the news that Tesla founder Elon Musk may be interested in the project that the mayor has called "essential for the city's future."

 

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#13 steve4031

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 09:39 PM

Problem with this Elon musk proposal is how would it link up with other trsnsit in downtown Chicago. I think there should be s consideration of the Midwest high speed rail proposal for cross rail shock links different parts of Chicago to Ohare.

#14 CNJRoss

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Posted 04 July 2017 - 08:08 PM

Chicago Tribune, 7/3/17:

 

 
Editorial:  Chicago's 'chunnel': Does Chicago need a subterranean superhighway to O'Hare?

 

 

If we end up some day booking rocket tours to Mars, treating neurological disorders with implantable brain chips or heading from condo to office in pods that zoom underground in tubes Jetsons-style, we may have Elon Musk to thank.

 

The billionaire innovator has had his hiccups, but he's also built up a good deal of street (and cosmic) cred. Space X, his space transport/aerospace manufacturer, has sent several cargo missions to the International Space Station and launched the first orbital rocket to safely land back on Earth. Tesla, his electric vehicle startup, is now worth more than GM or Ford, in terms of market capitalization.

 

That resume intrigues Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is keen on one of Musk's ideas — getting from A to B in Formula One-fast underground pods, according to Crain's Chicago Business. Emanuel is determined to realize his dream of a high-speed rail line connecting downtown with O'Hare International Airport, and the mayor thinks the missing link could be Musk's idea of passenger pods moving through a subterranean superhighway.

 

Musk first suggested the idea for Los Angeles, where he's headquartered, though there's no indication that LA is on board. Emanuel recently sent aides to Los Angeles to explore Musk's idea and his interest in a Chicago version, and has now invited Musk's team to Chicago.

 

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#15 KevinKorell

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 01:17 AM

Chicago, IL Tribune, 11/29/17:

 


 

Emanuel takes next step toward O'Hare express train

 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking another step in his plan to build an express train from downtown to O'Hare International Airport by putting out a government version of a casting call.

 

 

Update



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#16 CNJRoss

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Posted 01 December 2017 - 12:06 PM

Progressive Railroading, 12/1/17:
 

Chicago issues RFQ for express train to O'Hare

 

 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) is issuing a request for qualifications to identify teams interested in developing a high-speed rail service from downtown to O'Hare International Airport.

The RFQ is the next step in Emanuel's interest in creating an express train that will transport passengers from downtown Chicago to O'Hare in 20 minutes or less, reducing the current travel time by more than 50 percent, according to a CIT press release.

 

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#17 CNJRoss

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Posted 01 December 2017 - 12:07 PM

Chicago Infrastructure Trust:

 

O’Hare Express System Project

#18 KevinKorell

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Posted 01 December 2017 - 12:22 PM

To this day, with this recent surge of news items about it, there is still no definitive mode called for. Everyone just wants an express train between downtown and the airport.  It is hard to say if this will ever happen, given the dickering that will continue to go on as to the route it takes and its effect on existing transportation service. I think what was once envisioned, and that is a 4-track heavy rail rapid transit mainline over the route of the Blue Line, would be impossible to do all at the same grade considering the sprawl in the neighborhoods it traverses.  The idea may stem from CTA's current 4-track line north of downtown that hosts the Red, Purple, and Brown Lines. The only way this might be possible would be to put two express tracks over the existing local Blue Line, thus a double decked structure along the distance where the Blue Line runs as an elevated.  Alternatively, using commuter rail right-of-way would be a bit more circuitous and necessitate putting a spur line in from the existing tracks to the airport itself.  Plus, if this option was chosen, then another terminal station would need to be built on the airport property separate from the Blue Line terminal.

 

The  benefit of the heavy rail rapid transit idea, with an underground downtown station, is that it could also extend south of downtown Chicago to Midway Airport. Thus equipment would be dedicated to airport service for both airports, and inter-airport travel would be so much easier and quicker.  This might involve also double decking over the Orange Line, but at least in some spots there might be room to expand out from the existing Orange Line tracks.



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#19 CNJRoss

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Posted 03 January 2018 - 05:18 PM

Chicago Tribune:

 
Commentary: The limited thinking behind the O'Hare-Loop high-speed rail idea
 
By F.K. Plous
 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is searching — again — for a private firm to develop a “high-speed” rail route from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport. Three things are wrong with that sentence.

 

“Private firm” is the first. Why would a private business want to compete with a highway system that enjoys lavish public subsidies?

 

The second error is calling for “high-speed rail,” where trains cruise at 150-220 mph along corridors of 100-400 miles or more. That would be overkill for an airport shuttle route measuring only 19 miles. Business travelers flying into London are just fine with the Heathrow Express trains’ top speed of 100 mph. O’Hare travelers probably would be pleased with the same level of service.

 

The third part of the mayor’s proposal may be the least appropriate: The proposed trains would shuttle only between O’Hare and Chicago’s central business district.

 

 

F.K. Plous is director of communications at Corridor Capital LLC, a Chicago-based passenger-rail development company.

 

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#20 CNJRoss

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Posted 08 February 2018 - 05:11 AM

Xinhua.net, 2/7/18:

 
Elon Musk's company among initial bidders for Chicago's airport express train

 

 
 

CHICAGO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Elon Musk's Boring Company is among the four respondents that want to build and operate an express rail system from Chicago's O' Hare International Airport to downtown, Chicago mayor's office confirmed on Wednesday.

 

The high-profile entrepreneur has just sent his Tesla Roadster to space by SpaceX's brand new Falcon Heavy rocket on Tuesday.

 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) has received four responses to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the O'Hare Express operating system.

 

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