What O’Hare Flyer told the High Speed Rail Alliance on September 4, and what the record shows
They say: “We did it the opposite of the way developers often do … we spent three years doing the hard work … raising capital.”
The record: The LLC was formed January 26, 2024, thirty-one months before the announcement. The announcement came with one nonbinding letter of intent, no agreement with UP or CN, no disclosed capital, no fare, no released ridership study, and no permit. That is the splashy announcement the CEO says he avoided.
They say: “This is a private initiative. We are not using public money.”
The record: The terminal sits on the public lower level of Canal Street; the airport loop and flyover are on City-owned airport property; the Sponsor plans to grade-separate Madison Street “working closely with IDOT”; and the ICC apportions grade-crossing costs among the railroad, the State, and local governments. The finance lead is a former Department of Energy loan-program official. Watch for the federal loan and the state earmark; the CEO’s last infrastructure project, the Cairo port, received a $40 million state grant after years of private advocacy.
They say: “We have 100% end-to-end control … a dedicated line … no crossing points with other railroads.”
The record: By the Sponsor’s own description, the line crosses the Metra/CPKC line at B-12 (by a flyover to be built), shares a rebuilt three-track CSX corridor with a freight track and remaining freight customers, and depends on agreements with CSX, UP, and CN, two of which do not exist. “Control” is a contract the Sponsor has not signed.
They say: “We’ve created a Class 3 railroad called the Great Western Railroad … on the line that we have leased.”
The record: This is the Sponsor’s plan to become a federally regulated “rail carrier” so that federal law preempts village and city rules. It should be said plainly: a company promising a “collaborative” conversation with communities has structured itself so that those communities cannot say no. No STB filing by that name had been made as of September 6.
They say: “The route is the route.”
The record: Then the conversation the Sponsor offers is about the color of the sound wall. River Forest, Forest Park, Franklin Park, Schiller Park, and the communities at 1st Avenue, 5th Avenue, George Street, and Belmont were not consulted on the route; two of their mayors were told about it.
They say: The line is “fully grade separated.” (webinar host)
The record: The CEO counted nine grade crossings between Madison Street and O’Hare. Four in River Forest would be eliminated by a 27-foot embankment-and-fence structure through residential blocks. Four more, at 1st Avenue, 5th Avenue, George Street, and Belmont Avenue, will get quad gates and stay at grade if the ICC has not separated them by opening day, with trains every fifteen minutes. Chestnut Street would be closed.
They say: “Whisper quiet … think of your Tesla.”
The record: An electric car is quiet at 25 mph because its motor is quiet. Above about 50 mph, a train’s noise comes from wheels on rail and from the air, not the motor. The Sponsor proposes 110 mph in the Eisenhower trench and 80 mph average through River Forest, and its own plan includes a sound wall. The CEO, who lives across from a Metra line, says he hears the trains.
They say: “More than 99.6% reliability.”
The record: No single-track, 15-minute, battery-electric airport service exists anywhere to measure that against. The Sponsor’s fallback, running on the freight railroads’ tracks in an emergency, requires permission it does not have. Heathrow Express and Toronto UP Express, the models the Sponsor cites, run on double track.
They say: “Just like the London Heathrow Express.”
The record: Heathrow Express carried 6.7 million passengers in 2018–19 and under 4.3 million in 2024–25 after a cheaper public line opened. Transport for London has told the government the service may not be the best use of its train paths. Its contract ends in 2028.
They say: Toronto’s UP Express is “doing quite well now.”
The record: It is, because Ontario cut the premium fare from C$27.50 to C$12 in 2016 after the train ran 90 percent empty, and it now operates as a subsidized commuter service. That is the outcome, not the exception.
They say: “We are a radically different approach than Brightline … our revenue per mile is multiples of Brightline’s.”
The record: The Sponsor will not disclose revenue, ridership, fare, investors, or return. Brightline’s Orlando segment is an airport service, and its auditors have raised substantial doubt about its survival under $5.85 billion of debt. “Trust us” is not a distinction.
They say: “A very expensive ridership analysis … the numbers came in better than we expected.”
The record: Release it. The only public data point is Metra’s 2024 pilot, about 120 riders a day. If the study is as good as the Sponsor says, the City Council should see it before it votes.
They say: “We briefed Metra … pleasantly surprised by the reaction.”
The record: Metra’s public statement was that it will work with NITA to assess what impacts the project may have on the region’s capital-funding decisions. The Flyer would use the same CN corridor Metra needs for public O’Hare service.
They say: “It’s not designed for commuters … a rising tide lifts all boats.”
The record: A premium train that skips every community it passes does not lift the Blue Line or the North Central Service; it competes with them for riders, railroad capacity, and political attention. The public options serve the airport and the neighborhoods. This one serves the airport.
They say: Residents “have heard misinformation that has been put out by various folks.”The record: The Sponsor, beginning with the date it says construction starts: “next year” on August 25, “as soon as 2028” on its website, does not site sources for information that would likely be critical of their plan, and indeed continues to keep much of their plan under wraps, in the guise that it is a “private project”. There is irony in complaining about “misinformation” when their party line is “that’s private, but trust us!”