Amtrak to O

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has asked Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman to conduct a study examining Amtrak passenger rail linking Chicago Union Station and O’Hare International Airport. Quinn has requested that the study be completed by summer.

The governor reportedly sees a synergy in linking O’Hare to the Amtrak network, including the railroad’s Chicago-to-St. Louis service, now undergoing an upgrade to 110 mph higher-speed rail (HrSR) service in a public/private partnership involving the state, Amtrak, and Union Pacific.

“This connection would also provide better access to downstate cities and significantly boost ridership” outside the Chicago area, the governor wrote in a letter to Amtrak’s Boardman. “Advancing this connection would also establish O’Hare as a central —and connected—component of the nine-state, 110-mph Midwest Regional Rail System.”

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association, an advocacy group, already has supported an express rail link directly connecting O’Hare and Union Station.

Amtrak links to existing airport facilities nationwide are somewhat limited. On the Northeast Corridor, for example, Amtrak has station stops for Thurgood Marshall Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Maryland, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, and T.F. Green International Airport in Rhode Island, but none of these stops serve an airport directly; transfers are required.

Some air travelers traveling to or near Chicago opt for Milwaukee-Mitchell Airport in Wisconsin, served by Amtrak, and have praised the air-rail link available there. But this station, as well, is situated outside the airport itself.