Looks like Mayor Emanuel’s express train dreams might finally be coming true.
Serial entrepreneur and eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has put forth a bid to design, build, operate and fund a high-speed train between Chicago O’Hare and downtown. Musk’s announcement –made via twitter –came only one day after the City of Chicago and Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) issued a joint Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private organizations to submit proposals for the long-awaited project.
Though loose plans for the “O’Hare Express” have been in the works since as early as 2001, word of Musk’s potential involvement has significantly re-upped public interest in the rail’s construction – and understandably so.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder’s newest venture, the Boring Company, claims to have created a newfangled drilling technology that, when implemented in the construction of a high-speed train line, could significantly reduce traffic between the Loop and O’Hare. Using smaller-than-standard passenger cars to fit the drill’s narrow tunnels, Musk’s version of the express line would employ “electric sled” propulsion technology to reach speeds of up to 125mph, cutting travel time between the busy international airport to a Block 37 super-station in half from 40 minutes to just under 20.
While this high-tech drilling method would supposedly cut construction costs by up to 90 percent, the pricey-project is still valued at well over a billion dollars. And though that money wouldn’t necessarily come out of taxpayer pockets (Musk has volunteered to foot the bill, after all) the O’Hare Express would cost quite a bit more per ride than the CTA, with prices expected to land somewhere around $20 for a one-way ticket.
The Boring Company will compete to fund, build & operate a high-speed Loop connecting Chicago O’Hare Airport to downtown https://t.co/bRqKpzSJjz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2017
It’s worth noting, of course, that Elon Musk hasn’t actually gotten the go ahead from the City of Chicago. Yet.
All responses to the RFQ will be accepted through January 24th of 2018, at which time Mayor Emanuel and other city officials will begin talks with the best proposal.
For more information on the RFQ head here.
For more information on the Boring Company go here.
To be wildly entertained by Elon Musk’s twitter, click here.
