Elon Musk’s Boring Company will build a high-speed train to Chicago airport
You could take the regular 40-minute train from one of the busiest airports in the world, or how about a 12-minute high-speed trip?
The Boring Company, headed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, has won a bid to build a high-speed train from Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport to downtown.
The new rail line, or Chicago Express Loop, will see 12-minute trips in electric vehicles called "skates," from the airport's new terminals to the Block 37 super-station downtown. This trip usually takes approximately 30-40 minutes, whether by train via Chicago's Blue Line, or by cab, Uber or Lyft.
Skates will leave each station as frequently as every 30 seconds, operating 20 hours per day, seven days a week.
According to The Boring Company, fares have not been finalized, but "will be less than half the typical price of taxi/ride-share services, though higher than the Blue Line."
Passengers will hop into an eight to 16-seat vehicle travelling up to 150 miles per hour through The Boring Company's 12-feet-wide tunnels, sitting 30 to 60 feet underground. Single passenger vehicles will also be available, but no other information has been provided on this.
Each battery-powered electric skate has been based on the Tesla Model X, and will be mechanically confined to a concrete track. Each skate features a climate controlled cabin, luggage storage space, and Wi-Fi.
How much will this all cost? According to the Chicago Sun Times, The Boring Company says it can install the whole thing, including the new airport station and Block 37 renovation, for under $1 billion. The Boring Company says the project will be 100 percent privately funded.
The bid win doesn't come as a huge surprise, as Musk tweeted plans to work with the city of Chicago on the airport rail project in November, and made the bid for The Boring Company in February.
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"Bringing Chicago’s economic engines closer together will keep the city on the cutting edge of progress, create thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthen our great city for future generations," Mayor Emanuel said in a statement provided to Mashable.
"This transformative project will help Chicago write the next chapter in our legacy of innovation and invention."
For the control of the high-volume airport line, The Boring Company beat out a rival bid from joint venture called O’Hare Xpress LLC, made up of Meridiam, Antarctica Capital, Mott MacDonald, First Transit, and JLC Infrastructure, a fund (amazingly) backed by basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, reports Bloomberg.
It's another win for The Boring Company, which is already rolling out its ambitious ultra-high-speed hyperloop project in Los Angeles — one that'll apparently cost passengers just $1 to ride within the city. The very first LA tunnel was officially completed in May, after digging permission was granted in August last year.
Musk will begin giving free rides through the LA tunnels within a few months.
Musk also got permission from Maryland officials for his Boring Company to build a 10-mile tunnel in the state last year. It will mark the first part of Musk's envisioned hyperloop to transport people underground between New York and Washington, D.C. in just 29 minutes.
Guess Musk had better sell a fair few of those flamethrowers.
UPDATE: June 14, 2018, 3:03 p.m. AEST Updated with information provided by The City of Chicago.
Topics Elon Musk
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
