I am essentially neutral on whether or not a third airport is a good idea for Chicago. The recent letters from Jeffrey Flicker (Voice, Oct. 14) and Martha Schiebel of the state Department of Transportation (Oct. 25) are, however, a good example of people talking past each other when they could be working on common goals.
Some of the environmental objections that have been posed to a south suburban airport site could be at least partially met by an upgrade of the already existing rail line. The south suburbs are an expanding region that deserves improved rail connections. At present, the Metra Line terminates in University Park, and Amtrak runs only two trains a day to Kankakee (with Homewood the only intermediate stop) and beyond.
As part of an airport plan, why not build in the expansion of Metra service to Kankakee, with stops in Monee, Peotone and Manteno? This could constitute the first leg of improved intercity service as far south as Champaign, a potentially rich market. It would be important to site the airport so that connecting shuttle service to the terminals was readily available from one of these stops or, possibly, an additional one.
The future of American rail service probably lies somewhere between a sentimental desire to re-create the great overnight trains of the ’30s and ’40s and the futuristic but not always practicable hope for high-speed rail corridors. In the meantime, we need to be talking more about air-rail integration in urban areas, where the ridership potential lies. This point seems to have eluded both of these letterwriters.
