Metra service to O’Hare is about to get much better — for the DNC, at least

Sarah Freishtat, Chicago Tribune
·2 min read
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CHICAGO — Metra will run hourly shuttles between O’Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago for much of August, as the city prepares for the Democratic National Convention to bring tens of thousands of expected visitors, many of whom will be flying into the major hub.

The boost in service is the latest way the city’s transportation agencies and companies are preparing to move the influx of politicians and visitors to and around the city. Hometown airline United Airlines is adding 118 flights to and from Chicago in August. And the CTA has committed to provide up to 250 of its buses to transport convention participants as part of a “secured transit system,” despite concerns about the agency’s ability to provide reliable regular bus service.

The Metra shuttles mark a dramatic increase in the rail agency’s typical service to its station near O’Hare’s rental car facility, reachable from the terminals via the “people mover” train. The agency usually runs six North Central Service trains between Chicago and O’Hare on weekdays, and none on weekends.

But between Aug. 12 and 30, trains will run every hour on both weekdays and weekends, in addition to the six regular trains. The shuttles will make two stops in addition to Chicago Union Station and O’Hare, with the last shuttle leaving O’Hare around 10:45 p.m.

Metra shares use of many of its tracks with freight railroads. The agency said it worked with two of the freight railroads, which own tracks or dispatch trains along parts of the route, to allow the temporary shuttles.

Convention visitors can also take the CTA Blue Line to downtown, a trip typically scheduled to take some 45 minutes. A trip by car is likely to include a journey through Chicago’s skyrocketing traffic congestion along the Kennedy Expressway, where lane closures have snarled vehicles for months as part of the second year of a three-year highway rehab.

Metra promised a journey from O’Hare to Chicago Union Station on its trains would take about 35 minutes.

“This service will be a much faster and far less stressful option than driving or taking a cab or rideshare on the Kennedy, which is even more jammed than usual due to an ongoing construction project,” said Metra CEO Jim Derwinski said in a statement.

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