CHICAGO — A group of business and transportation leaders wants to build a private train they say could take travelers from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport in 15 minutes, but the project would need to clear significant planning, financial and regulatory hurdles to get rolling.

The aspirational plan, called the O’Hare Flyer, would rely on the use of freight railroad tracks to shuttle travelers between downtown and the airport. Leaders of the initiative would not disclose ticket prices, but said the trip would cost “significantly” less than a taxi or rideshare but more than a trip on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line. Trains would run every 15 minutes from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m.

The CEO of the initiative is Dave Lundy, a lobbyist and the CEO of strategic communications firm Aileron Communications. The group’s leadership also includes rail industry veteran Mark Walbrun and Kristi Lafleur, a former executive director of the Illinois Tollway.

The project, which could be ready to launch within five years, would cost about $2.25 billion and would be entirely privately funded, the group said, emphasizing they would not be seeking government subsidies for the plan.

The group pitched the express train as a mode that would add speed and comfort to the trip between downtown and O’Hare, which takes around 45 minutes and costs between $2.50 and $5 on the CTA’s Blue Line.

“O’Hare (is a) world-class airport, or will be when Terminal 2 is built,” Lundy said, referencing the city’s ongoing, massive modernization project at the airport. “Chicago is a world-class city. What we have lacked is a world-class way to connect the two.”

It’s not the first time an express train to O’Hare has been floated in Chicago. In 2018, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration tapped billionaire Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build an express train to the airport using unproven tunneling technology. Under that proposal — which ultimately went nowhere — Musk’s company had suggested travelers could get from downtown to O’Hare in 12 minutes to the tune of $20 to $25.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signaled support for the new proposal in a statement, calling it “the latest evidence of the growing confidence private investors have in the city of Chicago under my administration.”

“Innovative, sustainable and affordable transportation solutions are a central tenant of our vision, and our administration looks forward to further discussions with those seeking to make transformative investments in Chicago,” Johnson said, touting downtown economic activity and ongoing investments at O’Hare he said would feed demand for travel between the Loop and the airport.

In a news release Tuesday, the Flyer team touted support from business and labor, including from World Business Chicago, Chicago-based United Airlines and the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council.

But the project needs to clear numerous hurdles before it could become a reality.

Notably, the O’Hare Flyer group has not yet secured agreements from all the railroads that will need to give their blessing for track usage. The group recently executed a letter of intent with the CSX railroad, although the parties have not yet signed a final agreement.

“CSX is pleased to work with the O’Hare Flyer team to support a safe and reliable transportation option for Chicago travelers,” said Andy Daly, CSX senior director of passenger operations, in a statement.

The Flyer group would also need agreements from the Union Pacific and Canadian National railroads to lease their tracks. Lundy said the group had had “very productive conversations” with those two railroads.

CN declined to comment.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the UP said the railroad “met with the backers of the O’Hare Flyer project, but negotiations are in the early stages and no agreement has been reached.”

“Chicago is a vital transportation hub in North America, with one of every four U.S. freight trains passing through the metropolitan area or about 500 freight trains a day,” the railroad added.

The project is also expected to require approvals from federal regulatory agencies, which could include the Federal Railroad Administration, the Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. The Flyer group said they’d started “preliminary” conversations with the feds. The group presumes the deal would need approval from Chicago’s City Council as well.

On the funding front, Lundy wouldn’t disclose how much money has been raised for the project so far, nor from which specific donors. A first round of funding from private investors has already been completed, he said, and the group was looking to fund an $18 million second round next.

The Flyer group said they had already budgeted for the possibility of the city sharing in some of the revenue from the train service, though details on what that would look like were not yet available.

The train’s route would start in the Loop, with trains leaving from what the Flyer team described as city-owned property underneath Canal Street near the old main post office, connecting to Union Pacific track around 16th Street. Trains would then travel through the city’s West Side and the northwest suburbs before dropping travelers off at O’Hare’s Terminal 2.

Lundy cited similar express trains in cities such as London and Hong Kong as reference points for the possible O’Hare express.

The Flyer project is likely to elicit concerns that it could cannibalize fare revenue from CTA, which struggled with the prospect of a looming fiscal crisis before state lawmakers put the agency on firmer financial footing last fall.

But the express option is not supposed to be a CTA competitor, the Flyer team said, pitching the train as a ride centered around the needs of air travelers, including luggage racks and even the option to check baggage to their final destination.

“This is a different kind of service,” Lundy said. “Somebody who’s going to pay $2.50 to get to ride the Blue Line may not feel comfortable spending significantly more than that to ride our service.”

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