Chicago Built a Station for an O'Hare Train That Never Came

Under Block 37 in Chicago's Loop is the concrete shell of a train station, built by the CTA with its own borrowed money and the city's, for airport trains to O'Hare and Midway and a Red–Blue subway link. No train has ever stopped in it. This film follows the CTA's own records, and the 2006 business plan its consultants wrote, to explain why the station came first, why not even a slow airport train ever ran, and why a Blue Line express was never just a timetable change. What the film covers: The 2003 CTA study of express trains to both airports, and the 2006 business plan's three options: a premium "Direct Service" on the existing Blue Line tracks (about 45 minutes, no faster than the Blue Line), passing tracks at Damen and California plus express track in the Kennedy median (about $771 million in 2006 dollars, for both airports), or a new line along the Kennedy and the Union Pacific (about $1.5 billion). Why the station came first, in the CTA's own words: the only empty lot between the State and Dearborn subways, the developer's and the city's agreed shares, and a 2008 opening date — and why its board chair refused to buy a slow premium train on its own. The 13 April 2005 deal, the Washington Red Line station closed in October 2006 "over the next two years" (still closed), and the June 2008 decision to stop at the shell. Who paid: about $218 million by the CTA's count in 2013 (CTA bonds, city tax-increment money and outside grants); the federal transit grants the CTA says repaid its bonds; the federal "originally authorized purposes" rule and the repayment question that remains open; the developer's planned share, which no later breakdown of spending shows. The no-taxpayer fix: the city's 2017 search for an O'Hare express, the four teams (one with Amtrak), Elon Musk's Boring Company selected in June 2018 to negotiate a tunnel from this shell, no contract, and the city's 2021 word that the plan "has been dropped". The 2026 O'Hare Flyer: a $2.25 billion private proposal starting under Canal Street, its railroads (a letter of intent with CSX as of early October 2026), the approvals it still needs, and River Forest's 6–0 resolution of opposition. The film does not claim the money was wasted, that anyone misled the public, that Musk's company was hired, or that the federal government has asked for its money back. The $400 million sometimes quoted is the Civic Federation's estimate, which includes interest. Facts on the O'Hare Flyer are as of 26 October 2026. Sources (selected): CTA Strategic Business Plan for Express Airport Train Service (consultants' report, 2006): https://www.midwesthsr.org/sites/defa... CTA, "CTA reaches agreement for development of Block 37" (13 Apr 2005): https://www.transitchicago.com/cta-re... CTA, "CTA to study express rail service to O'Hare and Midway airports" (5 Feb 2003): https://www.transitchicago.com/cta-to... CTA, "CTA to seek private sector partners for airport express service" (11 Jun 2008): https://www.transitchicago.com/cta-to... CTA board chair Carole Brown's blog, October 2006: http://ctachair.blogspot.com/2006_10_... CTA Capital Grant Receipts Revenue Bonds, Series 2008A, Official Statement: https://www.transitchicago.com/assets... City of Chicago, O'Hare Express selection release (14 Jun 2018): https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts... Chicago Sun-Times, 5 Jun 2019 (federal grants and the super-station): https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/6/5... NBC News, 8 Jun 2021: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-new... Capitol News Illinois, 25 Aug 2026 (O'Hare Flyer): https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/... Village of River Forest, Resolution 26-10 (14 Sep 2026): https://www.vrf.us/uploads/cms/docume... #Chicago #OHare #CTA #BlueLine #Block37 More sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H...