‘O’Hare Flyer’ plan for express train to O’Hare unveiled

A group of Chicago business and civic leaders have unveiled plans for the O’Hare Flyer, an airport express train envisioned to run between O’Hare Airport’s Terminal 2 and downtown that would provide riders with a direct 15-minute ride. Planned by the team of Mark Walbrun, David Lundy, and Kristi Lafleur, the project has been developed by a team of engineering, law, architecture, urban planning, design, marketing and public relations firms. 

“O’Hare Flyer will connect our world class downtown with our world class airport in fifteen minutes,” said O’Hare Flyer Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Lundy. “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.”

Designed for travelers, O’Hare Flyer will provide concierge-level service on clean, whisper-quiet trains with comfortable seats and luggage racks in every car. The train will leave every 15 minutes and travel at an average of 80 mph on a dedicated track of continuous rail. Trains would run daily from 4 am to 10pm. 

The project will build a station just west of the Old Post Office and will run on freight rail right-of-way owned by CSX, Canadian National, and Union Pacific to travel towards O’Hare. To connect to Terminal 2, a track flyover will be constructed over the plane taxiways that traverse I-90 and then a new track will be run along the inside of the airport’s ring road with a station platform along Terminal 2. 

The team has reached an agreement on terms, memorialized in a Letter of Intent (LOI) with CSX and is moving forward with the other carriers as well.

Envisioned as a private endeavor, the approximately $2.25 billion project is not seeking government subsidies or funding to bring the project to fruition. With an objective to launch the project within the next five years, the O’Hare Flyer team is now meeting with public officials, business, finance, government, and community groups and will be expanding outreach throughout the region in the months ahead.