News

Musk one of two finalists for high speed rail to O'Hare

Posted March 21, 2018 11:00 pm

Chicago Sun-Times

Competition to build an elusive high-speed rail line between downtown and a soon-to-be-expanded O'Hare Airport has been narrowed to two teams - and visionary billionaire Elon Musk is the captain of one of them.

Musk's The Boring Company plans to create a "high-speed loop" using "electric pods" in underground tunnels he claims can be built for far less money because of the "boring" technology he has pioneered.

He will vie against O'Hare Xpress LLC, whose power player participants include Meridiam, Antarctica Capital, JLC Infrastructure, Mott MacDonald and First Transit.

A "request for proposals" (RFP) will be issued Friday - due back on May 18 - that will determine the winner.

It will permit travel corridors above or below ground and require stations at O'Hare and downtown with the possibility of finally using the empty Block 37 super-station that former Mayor Richard M. Daley spent $200 million to build.

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