Passenger Trains > Chicago questions.

Hello all,

On November 24th I have to meet my lady in Chicago. I'll be taking g either the 29 or 49 into Chicago.

She is flying into Chicago so I need to know where the airport is in relation to the station downtown.

Any help would be great.

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

Which airport in Chicago?  You can access OHare or Midway by the El (subway).  If a weekday, you can use Metra direct from Union Station to OHare.  BSB

There are 2 airports in Chicago and both are easily accessed by CTA trains from Chicago Union Station.

In Chicago, it is the ‘L’ not ‘El’ 😀

The CTA Orange Line serves Midway. Orange Line trains use the elevated tracks that ‘Loop’ around the downtown area.

The CTA Blue Line serves O’Hare and uses the Dearborn Street Subway.

Metra’s North Central Service out of Chicago Union Station serves O’Hare via the O’Hare Transfer Station. A transfer to a bus is needed because the airport’s people mover is STILL out of service due to its reconstruction. There are a limited number of trains on the NCS so make sure to check the schedule.

Posted from iPhone

Good advice so far.

If she can fly into Midway - it is more convienient to downtown.  A 20-30 minute orange line trip.  The orange line can be boarded about 3 blocks from union station.  Almost all flights into Midway are on Southwest.

O'hare airport is much busier, but also a longer ride.  About an 45-50 minutes ride on the blue line CTA.  The CTA station is about 3 blocks south of union station.  It can be a pain if you have luggage as it only has stairs.

As mentioned, Metra is also an option to O'hare.  Althought you have to take a shuttle bus from the Metra Station to the airport and the trains are not that frequent.

If you are planning to have a car or take taxi or Uber to the airport, Midway is much closer.

The Orange Line L station closest to Union Station is at Quincy Street.
Quincy Street is an antique, interesting, but it has NO elevators to the street.  

Quincy station is now indicated as being an accessible station. Elevators were installed during a recent station improvement project.

The Orange Line is one of the best transit lines for railfanning.  It passes along Canadian National Railways trackage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/19 19:19 by RuleG.

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Orange Line is one of the best transit lines
> for railfanning.  It passes along several
> railroad lines (I believe they are BNSF and
> Canadian National Railways).

For more on the Orange Line, go here:  http://dhke.com/CRJ/bridgeport.html

 

calumet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Orange Line is one of the best transit
> lines
> > for railfanning.  It passes along several
> > railroad lines (I believe they are BNSF and
> > Canadian National Railways).
>
> For more on the Orange Line, go here: 
> http://dhke.com/CRJ/bridgeport.html
>
Thank you.  I edited my post to reflect the information provided on the webpage.