Imagine zooming directly from the Loop to O'Hare International Airport at 125 miles per hour, skipping a 45-minute CTA train ride or an interminable (and expensive) trip in a cab. According to Crain's, the long-rumored high-speed rail line from downtown to Chicago's busiest airport may soon become a reality with the help of Tesla creator Elon Musk. A representative for Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with Musk to discuss the potential project, which would use a new underground drilling technology developed by Musk's cheekily-named Boring Company to create a tunnel to O'Hare.
The Crain's report goes into some of the details of the proposed project, which would send small passenger cars through a tunnel at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour, using the same "electric sled" technology that has been developed for Musk's as-of-yet-unrealized Hyperloop transportation system. A representative for Mayor Emanuel stated that bidding on an express train project between O'Hare and the Loop could begin later this year. It's possible that Musk could finance the project on his own if his proposal was selected, using it as a proof-of-concept for his new technologies.
The O'Hare express train has been a mayoral pipe dream since Mayor Richard M. Daley adopted it as a pet project in the early '90s, resulting in the construction of a $400 million "superstation" below Block 37 that remains unused to this day. While Chicago doesn't exactly need a dedicated, high-speed airport train, if Emanuel can make it happen without spending any taxpayer money, you probably won't hear many people complaining.
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