Now that O’Hare International Airport seems to be reaching the limits of its capacity to handle arriving and departing air traffic, it might be time to reconsider short-haul passenger rail service. Airport congestion is dependent on the number of flights arriving or departing per hour and has nothing to do with the origin or destination of those flights. Airplanes arriving from Springfield or departing for Madison, Wis., cause just as much airport traffic congestion as flights arriving from Houston or departing for Amsterdam.
If we had decent rail service to nearby cities, a good portion of the congestion at O’Hare would be eliminated. People going to Indianapolis or Grand Rapids or Milwaukee would have no reason to wait for boarding at O’Hare.
Considering the millions it would take to add runways at O’Hare or build another airport, could we devote some of this money to modernized rail service to destinations only a few hours away?
